The Art of Listening Prayer PDF

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The Art of
Listening Prayer
Finding God’s Voice Amidst Life’s Noise
Seth Barnes
Praxis Press, Inc.
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The Art of Listening Prayer copyright © 2005 by Seth Barnes. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by
any means without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published in Gainesville, Georgia, by Praxis Press, Inc.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from: HOLY BIBLE:
New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible
Society. All rights reserved.
NASB – New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963,

1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
Used by permission.
NKJV – New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,

Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Stories of poverty noted on Day 24 are from All You Really Need to Know
About Prayer You Can Learn From the Poor, copyright © 1997 by Louise
Perrotta. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Editorial assistance provided by www.TheMessageTherapist.com and Serena

Livingston.
Cover design by Eric Retterbush.
Praxis Press, Inc.

3630 Thompson Bridge Rd. #15-100
Gainesville, GA 30506
www.praxispublishing.com
For additional copies of The Art of Listening Prayer, see the website or e-
mail info@praxispress.org.
Printed in USA
ISBN 0-9754305-6-4
Some of the names in this text have been changed to preserve the identities
of the people involved.
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To Karen
You’ve taught me more about listening than anyone else.

During the course of our 24 years of married life,
you’ve had the opportunity to tune me out.
I'm thankful that you’ve always listened.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. What is “listening prayer”?

2. How to begin: your journal
3. Is our personal relationship with Jesus really personal?
4. God wants to relate to us
5. God wants to relate to us as a father
6. How does our heavenly Father communicate?
7. God’s principles of communication
8. How to start a conversation with God
9. God speaks through the Bible
10. Getting control of your thought life
11. How do we listen?
12. Impressions
13. Other ways God speaks
14. Can God trust you?
15. Following through
16. Listening leads to ministry
17. The role of the Holy Spirit
18. Learning to pray continually
19. Dealing with distraction
20. Growing deep roots
21. Overcoming obstacles: worries
22. Overcoming obstacles: riches
23. Overcoming obstacles: pleasures
24. Persevering through pain
25. Helping others to hear God
26. What’s next?
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My mother modeled prayer for my entire life. What a legacy she left me.
She was the tangible expression of God’s grace.
Along the way, Clint Bokelman has shared an enthusiasm for this subject.
His faith in me and in God has kept me going. Zihna Edwards and Mark
Almand have specifically prayed with me for a year about, “What does God
want us to do with this manuscript?” Their patience, friendship and
commitment have been a gift.
Thanks to Peter Lord. I sat in the audience at a conference of his in 1991

and my world changed. And, thanks to Mike Meyer who helped me to find
biblical balance along the way – his refining questions required a year or two
of wrestling before coming to a place of peace.
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INTRODUCTION
To me, India during the summer of 2001 might as well have

been Mars. I felt so separated from familiar ground. As I
walked in the gray, predawn light, the beaches of Bombay
began filling up with walkers and joggers and an occasional
pack of dogs. Very little of what I saw that morning fit with my
experience.
It appeared as though most people were there for exercise, a

clearing of the head, and perhaps some conversation with
companions.
I observed Hindu temples spaced along the beach. The devout

would pause along their route, face the temple, and pray to the
gods inside. However, as far as I could tell, none of them either
expected or received any answers.
The prayer life of many Christians in America is not unlike that

of the devout Hindu on the beaches of Bombay. Yes, we pray
to God, not some man-made idol; however, the way in which
we pray is surprisingly similar.
Often, our prayers don’t sound like any other normal

conversation. For many of us, they are the rote pleadings of
children who know well their own needs, but understand little
about their Father. Our prayers are the symptoms of shallow,
impersonal relationships with Jesus. We expect God to answer
through circumstances and events, perhaps, but never in an
actual dialogue.
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Most of my life I struggled with the vague notion that God
wanted to talk to me and I just wasn’t listening hard enough.
The God I read about in the Bible regularly interacts not only
with mankind, but with specific men and women. The common
denominator I saw in Scripture was that these people who
conversed with God were intentional and earnest in their pursuit
of a relationship with him. So, I decided to pursue him like
that. At the same time I became more aware that he was
pursuing me.
While I had talked to God and heard his voice in a variety of

ways previously, in 1991 I heard him speak to me in a
profoundly personal and unmistakable way. At a time when I
most needed to hear it, my Creator told me that he loved me! I
don’t know that I ever intellectually doubted that, but to hear it
from God directly was an overwhelming experience. It changed
my life forever – I can’t go back! The two-way communication
that is foundational to all relationships is no less important for
our relationship with the God who created us to be relational
beings. We need to see for ourselves that he wants to talk with
us. He wants to put the “personal” back in the personal
relationship with Jesus that we tell others we have.
The next month

This short devotional aims to add depth to your conversation
with God. If your experience interacting with God feels like a
monologue, if you hunger for intimacy with God the Father, but
feel stuck, unclear as to how to actually go deeper, then perhaps
you’ll find some answers here.
Over the next month, you’ll see that it is possible to converse

with God. In fact, you’ll see that he invites conversation and
expects to regularly interact with us.
Like Esau, many of us trade this birthright for a cheap imitation

– stale religion. But there is a way out. The same God who
gave us the spirit of adoption, who invites us to call him “Abba
Father,” gives us the right as his children to talk to him
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conversationally. Don’t you hope against hope that this is true?
Aren’t you just waiting for someone to show you the way?
There is a way, and it involves the give and take that we expect
in any conversation. It requires that we ask God questions and
wait for him to respond. Because it involves this process of
listening, I call it “listening prayer.” It’s far more art than
science, and practice does help. Over the next month, this
devotional will give you help in practicing it. We need to get in
the habit of asking God more questions and then expecting his
response.
Some of the questions in this devotional will prompt you to

seek God for information, and other questions will prompt you
to focus on deepening your relationship with him. As you do
this, bear in mind that God is far more interested in spending
time with you than he is in your diligence in working through a
particular assignment. God wants you to seek him with all your
heart; he wants your heart more than anything else. Be aware of
your natural bent - if you are a more task-oriented person, you
may be tempted to focus on informational questions as opposed
to relational ones.
What you’ll need

To position yourself to hear the Lord’s voice you’ll need to find
the following:
1. Your Bible
2. A journal
3. Two different colored pens
4. A silent room where you can spend at least 45 minutes
uninterrupted, more if possible, to quiet yourself for
listening prayer. Whether or not you use it all, the more
time you set aside, the better…it’s hard to really settle in
when you need to watch a clock.
So, begin by asking yourself, “Do I want to hear the Lord’s

voice enough to make it a priority in my life?”
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A warning: The goal of growing in relationship with God is
not easily squeezed into an already tight schedule. If your
current pattern is to spend 15 minutes reading down a prayer list
just after taking a shower while waiting for the coffee to brew,
something else in your schedule is going to need to give. Deep
relationships don’t happen overnight. This is true for God just
as it is for anybody else. If God sees that the pressure of the day
is weighing on you and, while waiting for him to speak, in your
spirit you are impatiently drumming your fingers on the table,
then this devotional may be a waste of your time.
While I suggest setting aside at least half an hour a day to spend

in listening prayer, if this is new to you, you will need to build
up to this gradually. It takes practice to focus your mind on him
for an extended period of time. Pray and ask him to sweep
away the clutter in your mind.
If at the other extreme, you are already desperate to hear the

Lord’s voice, then don’t let your busy life get in the way – you
might set aside an hour and a half to move through this
devotional at a slower pace. If you’re somewhere in the middle,
not really there but wanting to grow in the amount of time you
spend with God, then begin by budgeting 45 minutes the first
week and plan to ramp up to 90 minutes in the weeks that
follow. While spending time with someone won’t guarantee a
close relationship with them, it will create the space for the
relationship to grow. You’ve got to do a motive-check before
you begin this process. God says, “You will seek me and find
me when you seek me with all your heart.”
A coach
A final word of counsel before starting: To get the most out of
the next month, you’ll need a more experienced partner who can
hold you accountable to intentionally invest the time you need
to converse with God and to debrief what the Lord is saying to
you. Jesus warns us of the blind leading the blind; I encourage
you to look for mentors or coaches at least one rung higher on
the maturity ladder than yourself when seeking/confirming
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direction. Pooled ignorance should not be equated with
wisdom.
Your coach will ensure that you’re investing the time in this and
can help you process what God seems to be showing you.
Optimally, if your accountability partner has been walking with
the Lord for a while, he or she would have the spiritual
discernment to help you assess what God may be saying along
the way.
Unfortunately, many people don’t have anyone in their lives

whom they can trust with their thoughts and prayers. The idea
of writing something down that someone will later review can
be intimidating. This is a dilemma you may want to take to the
Lord. The advantages of identifying and trusting a coach can be
great. It greatly helps to have a sounding board to test the
validity of your perceptions as you begin to tune in to the still,
small voice of God.
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Day One
What is listening prayer?

Real Life Story
In the winter of 2002 my coworker, Deryck Livingston, and I
traveled to Bethel College in Indiana. My friend, Professor
Terry Linhart, had asked us to guest teach his class on
discipleship. We prepared a lesson that was as interactive as we
could make it. We felt the Lord asking us to demonstrate that
he is alive and that he desires to communicate with us in a
personal way. Deryck asked the class, “Who here has never
really heard the Lord in a clear way?”
A number of hands went up.
“Would any of you volunteer to come up here so that we can

pray and ask God to speak to you?”
One large young man named Ernest came forward to pray with
Deryck. They sat there at the front of the class while everyone
else either prayed or looked on. Although we believed that the
Lord had directed us to go through this exercise, we did so with
some trepidation. Would anything happen? The whole exercise
required faith. We believed that God wants to speak to his
children, but now we were putting our faith on the line. Ernest
settled into the chair, and Deryck laid a hand on his shoulder
and prayed.
It was a simple, sincere prayer. “Lord, here we are before you.

I am sitting here with Ernest who has come forward to hear
your voice, to know what you have to say to him. Would you
reveal yourself to him as he seeks you now with all his heart?”
We waited in silence. We were expectant and curious, but still

a little uncertain. How often do we just stop and wait
expectantly on the Lord?
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After a while Deryck quietly asked, “Ernest, have you heard
anything? Has God laid anything on your heart?” Ernest
nodded and said softly, “He wants me to know how much he
loves me.” Deryck paused and then asked, “Can you receive
that?” Again Ernest nodded and quietly said with some effort,
“I've been trying so hard to do the right thing: to do well in
school, make good choices, to please him.” He paused, then
said with conviction and wonder, “But he just says he wants me
to know he loves me, really loves me, and that all this other
stuff doesn't matter that much.”
Later, Deryck reflected how everything shifted at that moment.

It had been an exercise, a demonstration that God will speak to
us if we slow down enough to listen and allow him to speak to
us. “I realized yet again that he is a living God with his own
purpose, and here I was setting up a conversation. I suddenly
felt awkward, like the time I called my mom to the phone to
speak to my dad and lingered a little too long after she picked
up. They were talking in a personal way and I got
embarrassed. Up there in front of the class with Ernest, I again
felt like I was intruding on a very personal, sacred
conversation. All of a sudden the room full of people fell away,
and I was just with Ernest, encouraging him as he opened up to
God.”
The Lord loves Ernest so much, and he wanted him to know it.
In that classroom, before he was done, Ernest not only heard
God speak, but in his mind also saw a beautiful picture of
himself reflecting God’s golden light. The change that came
over Ernest was visible in his countenance. He was so excited;
he finally knew God’s love and grace, and was relieved of a
burden of performance. What a difference it made for him to
know God's love regardless of his efforts! He told us he could
work for the joy of it now; that he wanted to make God smile.
“I need to spend more time like this just being with God. It was
so cool just hanging out without trying to think of what to pray
about. I realize now that even in prayer I was getting wrapped
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up in my own concerns. Hey, maybe God doesn't take life so
seriously. He might just want me to enjoy life with him.”
There were nods and comments of agreement from classmates
as Ernest marveled at his experience.
But not everyone was convinced. Ben, another student, said

with some consternation, “I don't agree with all this. I think it's
contrived. I'm glad Ernest had a good experience, but you can't
just tell God what to do and expect him to do it right here, right
now. I mean, he’s God. We aren't! He speaks to us through his
word and that's enough. Discipleship is training people in
allowing him to speak to us through his word, not through our
subjective feelings. Feelings come and go. I don't feel God is
here right now, but that doesn't mean I don't believe in him, that
I don't have a personal relationship with him. I pray to him and
study his word and live my life in obedience to him and he
guides me and loves me. I don't need to hear his voice. He
speaks to me through his word; everything I need to know is in
his word.”
We continued with a discussion about the many ways God

speaks to us as revealed in Scripture. Ernest wanted everyone
to try it like he did. “It helped me make a breakthrough today
on something I have been struggling with all semester. What
have you got to lose? I feel like I gained a closer
relationship with God. I mean, I could talk to him about
anything right now, and think he would respond. It's so simple,
and yet here I am in a Christian college, taking a class on
Discipleship, and I'm just realizing the difference between
talking about listening to God and really listening. It's so
simple it's stupid. We waste so much time trying to please God
and do the right thing, and maybe he doesn't even really want
that. Maybe he just wants to hang out with us and love on us.
Wow! What a concept!”
It was difficult to lead an interactive class on discipleship; it

really is more “caught than taught.” But when we decided to
stop and just listen to God, it turned out the Lord had something
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to say to Ernest that he was eager for him to hear. And because
Ernest took a chance and just listened, he received that treasure
of truth. Ernest now had a choice: to keep desperately trying to
earn God's love, or to believe him, and let the Lord’s
unconditional love transform him from a slave into a son.
Ernest chose wisely. He listened to God, and grasped his
identity as a much-loved son.
Skeptics like Ben

If at this point you identify more with Ben than Ernest,
welcome to the party. Growing up in America isn’t easy; we’re
a nation of skeptics. It’s easier to take potshots at something
than it is to embrace it. We’ve been disappointed so many
times, seen so many promises come to nothing. We’ve read the
papers, every day hearing a new story of some naïve soul
getting duped. And in our own lives, we’ve prayed a hundred
times for something and not once did God reach down out of
heaven to answer us. The idea that God speaks to humans, that
in fact he may be speaking to you this very day, may seem to
contradict your experience. It’s a wonder anybody is willing to
consider the possibility! If you’re a skeptic, you’re in good
company.
But if we’re honest, many of us will admit a couple of things.

First, who wouldn’t want to be able to talk with their creator
and hear him talking back? Wouldn’t that be the most
wonderful thing imaginable? Don’t you hope against hope that
it’s possible?
And second, this “personal relationship with God” that we as a

Church advertise to nonbelievers may not feel very personal at
all. Somewhere along the line you may feel as though you’ve
been sold a bill of goods. We’re so saturated with doctrine that
has little or no basis in our experience that we look and act like
hypocrites. It’s time you face the issue; trifling with God
doesn’t serve him – if our friends can see the unreality of our
faith, then he certainly can.
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So what if you could set your skepticism aside for a month and
try listening for God’s voice, just like Moses did? Or Samuel,
or David, or the disciples, or Paul, or many of Christendom’s
greatest saints did down through history? What if they
understood something that you’ve missed? And, what if God
was just waiting to break out of the box you’ve had him in to
show you that he does still talk to people and wants to talk to
you?
You may not be that far away from it even now. Chances are
you already do hear the Lord’s voice and just struggle to admit
it. You may find yourself in the position of the woman who,
when reflecting on her journey of faith said, “God used so many
people to reach me over the years. Each time it seemed like God
was saying, ‘I'm still here.’ It was obvious that running into
these people was not a coincidence.”
Well, if it was as obvious as she says, then why doesn’t she just
go ahead and give God credit for what he was saying through
all those people? Why was she (and why are we all) so
tentative in crediting God when he speaks?
Maybe God has been talking like that to a lot of us, but we’re
just not listening. We don’t know how to listen. When he
speaks, we say, “It’s almost as if he were speaking.” We don’t
want to dishonor him by attributing words to him that he never
uttered. But we never consider the disrespect of appearing deaf
before the Almighty.
God has said in Scripture that he loves faith, that without faith
you cannot please him [Heb.11:6]. He implores us over and
over to seek him. Why not take a risk and begin searching for
the still, small voice of God that may be speaking to you, even
today?
The process
The fact is, God does speak to you and I, and he uses a variety
of means to do so. As you begin listening to God and hearing
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his voice, you may find that a question posed in the devotional
will lead you to ask the Lord one of your own. That’s great!
The purpose of this devotional is not to keep you dependent on
it but that, at some point, your conversation with God will begin
to flow naturally. You may find that the Lord begins to guide
your conversations more over time. Again, the goal is for you
to grow in your personal relationship with God, not to complete
every question.
Getting started
Begin in silence. Ask the Lord to speak to you by showing you
your heart. For instance, what are your motives in going
through this devotional? Write this initial question in your
journal, and then listen for God’s response. Ask for his
protection.
Then, ask the Lord a question and wait for his reply in faith.
Remember James 1:5-7: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should
ask God….” When you receive an impression of what the Lord
may be saying, write it down. Use these questions as a
conversation starter and then continue talking with him on your
own – it’s what he’s been waiting for!
The listening prayer process

 When you are ready, quiet yourself and examine your
heart. It’s often good to begin by reading Scripture. Ask
the Lord to speak to you through it.
 Ask the Lord to protect you in Jesus’ name from
deception.
 Ask him to speak clearly in a way that you can
understand, and to confirm anything he shared with you in
Scripture.
 Then write down your questions for prayer.
Then pause. This is where you wait and listen. The Lord
has much to say to you. He may direct you to another
passage of Scripture. He may share a tender word.
Whatever you feel he may be saying to you, write it down.
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Each day after the reading, questions are listed. You may want
to “make them your own” by transferring them to your journal.
Or, you may want to write in the brief space provided there.
We will talk more about the journaling process tomorrow. For

now, let me share a simple and helpful method. In a quiet room
with your Bible(s) and journal, take two different colored ink
pens. Use the first ink color to record your own thoughts.
You’ll use the second pen to record what you sense God is
saying. The different colored inks clarify “who’s talking.” I
use a black pen to record my prayers. If the Lord responds to a
question I’ve asked, I journal this in blue ink.
This process of listening may feel awkward and, possibly,

presumptuous. It contains the potential for mistaking ordinary
thoughts for the voice of God. But the important thing is that
you are giving God the opportunity to speak to you. Just as
children must be taught to listen and to sit respectfully during
adult conversation, so we must learn to stop our one-way
monologues with our heavenly Father.
If you are like most people, you’ll find that stray thoughts of
things-to-do-that-day flash on the screen of your mind. You
may find it helpful to have a separate piece of paper on which to
write TO DO list items. In fact, that’s often how I get direction
for my day. But press on beyond your daily tasks to engage the
Lord in listening prayer.
Questions to ask the Lord

Spend some time in prayer. Ask the Lord the questions below.
Don’t worry about missing God – this is just practice in “tuning
in” to his still, small voice. Rely on the Bible to help you sift
any stray notions. Later your coach can help you look at this in
light of Scripture. It may be uncomfortable at first but, as you
wait, gradually that discomfort will be replaced by impressions
of what he’s communicating to you. He is a gentle and good
shepherd; trust him to speak to you.
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1. Are there ways in which I have offended you?
2. What can I do to keep from offending you in the future?
3. Is there anything you’d like to share with me?
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Day Two
How to begin: your journal

Real Life Story
Last fall I was looking for God’s help in the way I led our
ministry (Adventures In Missions). We needed to connect with
him. So I journaled my prayer. Here are two examples of my
prayers and God’s responses from that journal:
9/27 – Lord, drill down with us. Show us yourself.

Meet us in our times of worship and in our times of
ministry. Is there anything you want to say to our
group?
Philippians 3:13-14: “Forgetting what is behind and

straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the
goal to win the prize…”
Wait for what I will show you.
Philippians 2:2: Be “like-minded, having the same love,

being one in spirit and purpose.”
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10/28 – Thanks for a good weekend. I confess my own

inadequacy. I’m caught up in my own agenda. And I
continually struggle to discern your will and leading.
Walk on the paths of righteousness. Minister to others.

Seek first my Kingdom. Rest in my love. I will
accomplish my purposes.
After I had journaled these short prayers and had sensed the
Lord responding to me, I noticed that two things had happened,
both of which encouraged me. First, I had a specific answer to
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a specific question. The demands of leadership can be great at
times. As the leader of our ministry, I need to be able to share
my perception of what God is saying to our team today, not eat
the crumbs of yesterday’s manna from heaven.
A second thing happened – something that happens whenever I

hear God speak. In communicating with me, God reaffirmed
our relationship. When I go through a dry spell in hearing from
God – which happens – I begin to doubt that he even wants to
have a conversation with me. When he breaks through that
period of silence, he almost doesn’t need to say anything of any
consequence at all. The mere possibility that the almighty
Creator is speaking to me is overwhelming!
Using a journal
If you’ve never heard God, then everything you’ve read so far
probably sounds like a theological treatise. There is a huge
difference between seeing the moon and walking on its surface.
The Bible says, “For God so loved the world…” (John. 3:16),
but you need to see for yourself that God cares; that he cares
about you. You need the experience of listening for and hearing
his voice for yourself.
The good news is that he is eager to talk with you. Scripture

says, “Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11:6).
Sometimes we just need a tool to help us focus. Because our
minds are cluttered, noisy places where the Lord’s voice is
easily obscured, we need help. A tool that many have found
helpful is a journal.
Writing down our prayers helps in two ways:

 It helps us to focus.
 It creates a record to compare with experience.
By journaling our prayers and our impressions of God’s

answers, we fine-tune our spiritual ears to better hear him.
Writing our impression of the Lord’s response creates in us an
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expectancy that he will respond. In effect, we stir up the very
faith without which it is impossible to please him. Regularly
“tuning in to” the Lord’s voice builds the habit patterns of
submission and expectancy that are necessary for the exercise of
spiritual gifts. (For example, you may sense the Lord wanting
to use you to encourage someone but, unless you look for the
specific opportunity to use your gift of exhortation, nothing
happens).
Anyone who believes the Bible is God’s inerrant word will

agree that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict us of sin (John.
16:8). For example, let’s imagine that you say something mean
about your friend Rachel. Subsequently, you hear the Holy
Spirit whisper in your mind, “You shouldn’t have said that
about Rachel. You should apologize.” You then have the
opportunity to dismiss this thought by saying, “No, that’s too
much trouble.” Or you may respond in obedience. This kind of
limited dialogue is normal. It happens every day in the lives of
most Christians. To bring focus to your dialogue by journaling
is an age-old Christian discipline. To note in your journal, “I
hear the Holy Spirit saying: ‘You should apologize to Rachel,’”
is hardly a heretical activity. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict
us of sin; that conviction typically comes to us as a thought:
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
Apply it
At times, all we hear from God is silence, and occasionally this
is because the last time he spoke to us, we ignored him,
willfully going our own way. Because this can put distance
between you and God, it can get in the way of your listening
prayer. Our sin can quench the Spirit, but if we open ourselves
up to him, he will show us, and we can be restored in our
personal relationship. The Holy Spirit speaks to us about our
sin not to condemn us, but to help us draw near to him.
We’ll make this process concrete when we get to the prayer

time at the end of this day’s devotional. You’ll begin your time
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with the Lord by saying: “Please show me anything that has put
distance between us.”
Next, wait to see if God brings anything to mind. If he does,

take your second pen and write down in your journal what he
shows you.
After this, take up your other pen and write a prayer of

repentance to him. If you felt the prompting of the Spirit and
recorded it, you’ve begun a dialogue with him!
This is just a first baby step in developing a conversational

relationship with the Lord. You can take your conversation
with God to another level. Using this devotional, you’ll begin
to journal your prayers to God using this same method.
How do we know it’s God?

How do we avoid mistaking our own thoughts for God’s?
Obviously, it must line up with Scripture. Use the questions in
the box on the next page to clarify if God has spoken.
To get perspective, I suggest you sharpen your skills of

discernment by regularly submitting your journal for review to a
spiritual authority to whom you’re accountable. By reading and
praying over your journal once a week, this person can help you
distinguish those thoughts that are random and self-generated
from the times when God speaks to you.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Test all things; hold fast what is

good.” But how do we do this?
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Ask the following questions to clarify if God has spoken:
1. Was it a clear word or just an impression? God may

give us different degrees of confidence in what he has
said. We therefore need to humbly admit our
fallibility.
2. Does it exalt Christ? (John 16:14)
3. Is it Scriptural? Scripture is our authority. God does
not contradict himself. (Proverbs 30:5-6)
4. Do other Christians confirm it? (Proverbs 20:18,
Proverbs 15:22)
5. Will it produce good fruit? (John 15:1-16)
6. Will it produce spiritual growth? (John 11:41-42,
Isaiah 55:10)
7. Does God cause it to actually take place? (Isaiah
55:11, Deuteronomy 18:21-22)
After you’ve clarified whether God has spoken, you must be

very careful with what he has said. Is your understanding of his
meaning accurate? The actual words God has spoken to your
heart may be accurate, but your interpretation may be incorrect.
Distinguish between the two.
In addition, be sure to ask: “What is the application?” Or ask,

“So, what now?” The word and the interpretation may be
correct, but misapplied. So, we may “miss” God at any of three
critical steps:
1. Hearing what he said.
2. Interpreting it.
3. Applying it to our lives.
Scripture meditation
Spend a minute or more just thinking about the following
passage:
“Should not a people inquire of their God?” (Isaiah 8:19)
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Pray: “Lord, do you expect me to inquire of you? Do you
expect that of my church? What do you want to teach me from
this passage?”
Wait in silence as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to you.
1. Is there anything that has put distance between us?
2. Have I treated you as less than a friend?
3. My own prayer of repentance:
Think for a moment about fresh, white snow. Really think

about it. Know that when you have sought God’s
forgiveness, he has forgiven you (Is. 1:18, Ps. 51:7). In his
eyes, you are just as pure and white as that fresh, new-fallen
snow. Is there something you struggle to forgive yourself
for? Go before God with it, and ask him to speak the truth
to you about it.
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Day Three
Is our “personal” relationship

with Jesus really personal?
Real Life Story
I met my wife in 1978. We got to know one another as juniors
at Wheaton College. Very quickly in the course of our
relationship I knew that she was the one for me. Yet I faced a
couple of problems: I didn’t really know her and, worse, she
was engaged to another man!
Those were dark days. All I knew was that I had to get to know
this stranger who had captured my heart. I schemed and
plotted. Who were her friends? What classes did she take?
Where did she study? I was desperate to get to know her, yet I
couldn’t appear to be overeager in the process lest I scare her
off.
Fortunately, her best friend liked one of my best friends. Soon,

we found ourselves sitting at the same table in the library
studying. Of course concentrating was impossible. My mind
was constantly filled with questions about how to get just a little
closer toward achieving my goal of getting to know her.
Now, 25 years later, I know so much more about Karen! I

know how she likes her coffee in the morning; and, I know not
to talk to her until she’s had it! I know what her silences mean.
I know all about her friends. We hide nothing from one
another. In our years together, we have lived on exotic tropical
islands and made homes in four different towns in America.
We’ve raised five children together. Needless to say, our
relationship is personal.
What a difference spending time together makes! My initial

infatuation cannot be compared with the fruit of a life lived
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walking alongside Karen. And even now, if I pay attention, I
can learn new things about her every week.
So it is with our relationship to God. We grow in our intimacy

as we share our heart with him and as he shares more of his
heart with us. The infatuation phase lasts for a season. To grow
beyond that phase, we must pursue God and talk with him,
seeking to truly know him.
Jesus wants a personal relationship

Jesus wants us not to just know about him, but to actually have
a deep, personal relationship with him – to know him and to be
known by him. John 17: 3 says, “Now this is eternal life: that
they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
you have sent.” If you look at the Greek origin of the word
translated “knowing,” it relates to the most intimate of
relationships. He wants our relationship with him to be a deep
and intimate.
Jesus makes clear how important it is that we know him when

he clarifies the penalty for not knowing him in Matthew 7:23:
“Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers!’” This “knowing” that Jesus describes is the
same kind of knowing we see him talking about in John 10:27:
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them...” (emphasis
added).
Evangelical Christians claim to have a personal relationship

with Jesus Christ. Yet how many actually do have a
relationship with him that is personal? Relationships involve
give and take, mutual interaction and dialogue. Marriages that
lack this grow stale. If I relate to my wife by giving her a daily
list of things to do or by telling her about my thoughts, never
asking her what her thoughts or feelings are, then my
relationship with her will be impersonal. I will know little
about her. She will not know that I care about her. To have a
personal relationship with my wife, I must listen to her as well
as speak.
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Our relationship with God should work the same way.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you…”
(emphasis added). God wants us to give him our praises, our
struggles, and our questions. And in return he also wants to
give to us counsel, encouragement, and consolation. This
interaction becomes the fabric of our relationship. The more
frequent and honest our give-and-take with Jesus, the more
personal it becomes.
What else can we say about this relationship?
We know this: Genesis 1:27 says that God created us in his

image. We also know that Jesus became a man. We serve a God
who is personal, not a book, or a statue, or a vapor, or a religion.
Psalm 139:1-2 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you
know me…you perceive my thoughts from afar.” God created
us – he knows everything about us!
We also know that we were created to be in relationship with

God. Because we are created in God’s image, it is not
unreasonable to think that we might apply the same relational
principles to our interactions with him that we do in our other
relationships.
This is understandably uncomfortable. God may be personal,

but he is also different from us in some critical ways. He is
invisible. He is transcendent; that is, he is far above our
understanding. He is all-powerful. He is completely holy. And
he does not typically speak in an audible voice.
So, while we may look for give and take in our relationship with
Jesus, oftentimes the main thing we hear is silence. It is no
wonder Christians struggle to make their relationship with him
a truly personal one. Silence in conversation usually feels
awkward.
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While it’s true that God tells us over and over in his word to
seek him and to love him, we must suspend our expectations of
how he will respond to us. As we seek to know God personally,
we must not lose sight of his transcendence.
Apply it
passages:
“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he
has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his
sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:3-4)
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know

me…” (John 10:14)
Pray: “Lord, show me what you want me to learn from this

passage.” Wait in silence as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to
you.

1. God, is my walk with you really personal? When has it
been most personal?
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2. Do I really understand how to have a personal
relationship? What makes a relationship with you
personal?
3. How do I hear your voice?
4. Do I possess a hunger for a closer walk with you? What

would an increased hunger for a closer walk with you
look like?
5. Where do I start? How can I begin to grow more in my

walk with you?
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Imagine going out for a cup of coffee with God. If he were
one of your best friends, what would you want to tell him
about?
Tell Jesus those things. If you would ask your friend

questions, you can ask Jesus!
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”

(Psalm 95:7-8)
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Day Four
God wants to relate to us

Real Life Story
This story comes from Katie Moss, a missionary to Uganda.
She relates how God called her there:
I thought that I was hearing God wrong, because there seemed

so many good reasons to stay, but it was that still, small voice
that just kept saying, “GO.” So I packed my bags and left all
that was comfortable to go to a foreign land that he would show
me. I was scared, sad, and totally alone.
When I arrived, I asked the Lord to reveal my purpose here. I

mean there were plenty of opportunities for ministry, but
nothing was filling the void in my heart.
Then last night I went for coffee with one of the ladies in the
village here. Her name is Olga. She is 24, and loves the Lord.
We have been doing some ministry together at the university
here in Kampala, and she has just been someone good for me to
talk to and pray with. When we sat down, we prayed that the
Lord would have his way in our time, and that he would be
glorified. Let me say this—I felt the Holy Spirit fall, and it
wasn’t like a dove. He came in a way that we couldn’t help
feeling his presence. Olga began to weep and share her story
with me.
She comes from a family of non-believers. In fact, they

strongly persecute Christians. She has seven brothers and
sisters; only one of her sisters is a Christian. But her dad kicked
her sister (who is a Christian) out of the house when he found
out she had decided to follow Jesus. Her sister has since strayed
from the Lord and Olga hasn’t heard from her in months. Her
parents have a horrible marriage; her dad is abusive and
unfaithful, and her mom is about to have a nervous breakdown.
They are even on the verge of kicking Olga out because she is
not stepping down from what she believes.
Olga said that for almost a year she has been praying that God
would send her help, someone who knows how to pray for her
and her family, someone who understands the pain of where she
is. He has heard her cry. I know as sure as I know that I am
saved that God sent me here for her. Only God would strip me
from my family to come and minister to someone else’s. What
a testimony of his love for her, that he would send someone
6,000 miles just to say, “I heard you and I love you.”
A theme in Scripture
All throughout Scripture, we see a picture of God in pursuit of a
people. He’s romancing us. He wants one thing: people who
will love him with their whole heart. This is why we see him in
the Old Testament as a jealous God.
Over and over in Scripture, we see the theme of God wooing his
people. The Israelites responded by structuring their lives
around him. They followed his laws, they set aside time to
worship him. The New Testament example is only more
extreme. Ministry and discipleship weren’t two tasks on the
disciples’ “to-do” list; they were as natural to them as eating
and drinking. This is the kind of undiluted devotion God
desires from us.
Apply it
Trace the theme of the undivided heart through Scripture and
you see what God is after. He wants a whole-hearted
relationship with us.
 Ex. 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
 Mt. 22:37: Jesus restates: “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart…”
 In Deuteronomy, we are encouraged at least 10 times
to love him with all our hearts.”
 The Psalms paint a story of God wooing our hearts.
And of people responding:
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 Ps. 119:58: “I have sought you with all my heart.
 Ps. 51:17: “A broken and contrite heart, O God,
you will not despise.”
 Ps. 86:11: “Give me an undivided heart.”
 Pr. 23:26: “My son, give me your heart.”
 Jer. 29:13: “You will seek me and find me when you
seek me with all your heart.”
 Ezekiel 11:19: “I will give them an undivided heart.”
 Joel 2:12: “Return to me with all your heart.”
 Mt. 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart.”
 2 Tim. 2:2: “Call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
passage:
“I have sought you with all my heart” (Psalm 119:58).
Pray: “Lord, show me what you want me to learn from this

passage.”
Wait in silence as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to you. Take the
time to write down what you hear from God.

Take some time to write a love letter to your heavenly Father.
Have you expressed to him the deepest yearnings of your heart
lately? Have you thanked him for all he has given you?
After you have written for a while, pause and wait. In the
ensuing silence, God may want to share something of his own
heart for you.
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40
Day Five
God wants to relate to us

as a father
Real Life Story
Many fathers struggle to communicate with their teenagers. My
own dad still jokes about how, when I became a teenager, I
withdrew into my room in the basement only to emerge five
years later in time to go off to college. We struggled to
connect; I was confused and depressed. My communication
skills were lacking – I was more comfortable behind a book.
Actually, those teenage years were painful ones for me. I

frequently felt isolated and misunderstood. Someone needed to
take me by the hand and show me how to interact with people.
Dad and I lived in the same house, but we were distant.
Some years later, my dad called and asked if I wanted to go on a

kayaking trip with him. We paddled down jungle rivers lined
with moss-laden trees. We saw anteaters and crocodiles.
Eventually the river dumped into the open, azure ocean. The
weather was perfect, and the beaches along the way were white.
In retrospect I see that it was an invitation to get to know him as

more than a father – to know him as a friend. We set aside the
awkward memories of my adolescence and had the best time
we’d ever had together. It was a breakthrough in our
relationship. I got to know my dad in a deeper way. We
learned to communicate.
We could have enjoyed our relationship as father and son well

enough without taking time out to enjoy one another’s
company. But I’m glad we did.
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What is it that makes the role of a father so important in our
lives? While much of what we might say holds true for mothers
as well, the role of a father is irreplaceable. Perhaps it’s the fact
that when we’re young, we start out so small and defenseless.
We need the protection that fathers provide. We can’t even
feed ourselves as we start out on life’s journey. Parents not
only get food for us, they put it in our mouths. They nurture us
in a hundred different ways. As we grow in awareness, they
explain how the world works. They help us acquire the skills
with which we navigate life.
Because they constantly help us develop, we look to them for

approval. “Is this how I do it, Dad?” We ask as we learn to
hammer a nail for the first time. “Does this outfit look good?”
A daughter asks her father before the first day of school. If he
smiles an enthusiastic “yes,” then she’s good to go. Without a
father’s approval, there would be much more trial and error in
our lives.
In the big scope of things, as we grow up, we are constantly

adjusting ourselves, our skills and image, to better fit the
requirements of the world in which we live. This adjustment
mechanism is the asking for and receiving of approval. Fathers
who withhold approval from their children are sure to foster
their insecurity. Children who withhold respect for their fathers
are breaking one of God’s commandments.
Apply it
God not only wants a relationship with us, he wants to relate to
us as a father. When asked by his disciples how they should
pray, Jesus said they should address God as “Father.” Jesus
himself modeled this relationship, frequently referring to God as
“my Father.” When Jesus began his ministry, God voiced his
approval, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
As our heavenly Father, God acts as our protector, our provider,

our friend, our confidante and teacher. He has much to show
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us. He already loves us without condition. There is nothing we
can do to win his approval; we already have it.
passage:
“Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, I want to look to you for your

approval. I know that you love all your children, but I confess
that I struggle sometimes to feel that love and to see you as a
father.
My own father let me down sometimes. But you have said that
you’d never leave me or forsake me. You’ve promised to guide
and protect me. These are truths that I believe with my mind.
But today I’d like to feel your care for me in the depths of my
heart. Would you tell me today how you feel about me?”
Wait on the Lord in silence.

Spend some time in prayer. Get completely alone and
distraction-free, so you can listen closely. Ask the Lord the
questions below.
1. Heavenly Father, would you show me any ways in

which my relationship with my earthly father has
colored my perception of you?
2. Is there anything I need to change to relate to you more

as my Father? What is it?
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3. What are some ways that you’ve related to me in the
past as Father?
4. Are there ways in which I can better honor you as my

heavenly Father? Would you show them to me?
Sometimes our past relationship with our father hinders our

relationship to God. Maybe you didn’t feel that your real
father understood you. Maybe he didn’t take time to listen
to you. Maybe he didn’t tell you he loved you. Maybe he
even hurt you. But God isn’t like that. He is a perfect
father. Think about all that means. Consciously make an
effort to see him as different from your earthly father. Give
him the chance to listen to you. Then, see what he has to
say to you.
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Day Six
How does our heavenly Father

communicate?
Real Life Story
Our youngest daughter’s learning disability and the social issues
that have resulted left us with a perplexing question. How
could we help her to engage socially? What could we do that
would draw her out of her shell?
One day, God gave Karen the answer: A dog. Now, we already
have a dog, but she is a farm dog who lives outside. Karen,
however, had in mind a small, cuddly indoor dog. And so the
search began. Considerable research pointed in the direction of
a cockapoo – half cocker spaniel and half poodle.
We looked on the Internet. We looked in the paper. We talked

with our friends. Then, a few years ago, a friend in South
Carolina said, “I know just the dog! Some friends of ours have
this half poodle, half Maltese puppy, but they have to be gone
all day, and the puppy is starved for affection while they’re
gone, so they want to give it away.”
Karen and Leah drove to South Carolina. It was love at first

sight. Whimsy, the dog’s given name, was a bundle of affection
and constant source of amusement. At just over seven pounds,
Whimsy was more fur than anything else. And he has been just
what the doctor ordered. Leah has responsibility for feeding,
washing, and walking him. She regularly bosses him around.
Whimsy has been a tangible demonstration of God’s care for
Leah.
Early on Whimsy developed a routine comprised of just three

activities: sleep on Leah’s lap, eat, or play. While he spends
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most of his time sleeping, occasionally, for no apparent reason,
he’ll go and get a dog toy and start running around the house.
It’s his way of saying, “I want to play.”
And what a bundle of energy Whimsy is to watch when he’s

playing! The name fits – every playful burst seems whimsical
in origin. Whether darting about the house, chasing imaginary
rabbits, playing keep-away with the ball, or any manner of
games, Whimsy quickly found his way into all our hearts.
I have many ways of communicating with Whimsy. If I spill

food on the floor, all I have to do is tap my foot there, and he
runs over to lick it up. If he’s done something wrong, the tone
of my voice says plenty – I don’t need words to communicate
displeasure. If I grab the leash, it’s time for a walk. Packing
suitcases produces a sense of insecurity of getting left behind.
I would never want to restrict the ways in which I can

communicate with Whimsy. Words are just a small part of my
repertoire. Similarly, why should God (who is infinitely
creative) limit himself? The list of the methods he has used in
the Bible shows us something about him, but it doesn’t begin to
do justice to the possibilities available to him. The God who has
communicated to people in so many ways throughout history
wants to have a conversation with us. We need to be open
about what shape that conversation takes, allowing the Lord to
choose his means of communication.
A variety of ways
Scripture shows that God uses a variety of methods to
communicate to his people. The following is a list of some of
the methods he has used. A caveat: just because he’s used them
in the past doesn’t mean he will necessarily use them with us.
Some people cite these examples and state that we can expect
God to speak the same way to us. This boxes God in.
However, these examples do show us the patterns of a God
who: (a) wants to communicate with people, and (b) will not be
limited in how he does so.
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Apply it
Go through the following list and read the Scriptures. Though it
would take longer, you may want to do more than just read
them here; find them in your Bible. To properly interpret
Scripture, we need to look at the context. Ask God to speak to
you through what you read. Note the patterns – God uses a
variety of means to communicate.
Through Scripture
Acts 2:16-21: “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel...”
Peter links the manifestations of the Holy Spirit with Old
Testament prophecy.
Acts 4:25-26: “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth
of your servant, our father David.” Peter and John echo Psalm
2 in their prayer.
Through Others
Deut. 18:17-19: “I will put my words in his mouth.” God
declares that he will speak through a prophet.
Num. 15:2: “Speak to the Israelites.” God commands Moses to
communicate his desires to his people.
Is. 28:11: “With foreign lips and strange tongues God will
speak to this people.” A prophecy to the Israelites.
Circumstances/Events
Gen. 50:20: Joseph: “You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good.” Joseph tells his brothers how God
redeemed his bad circumstances.
Acts 1:26: “They cast lots.” After days of praying, with no
obvious direction, they ask God to use the luck of the draw to
decide who will replace Judas.
Impressions
Acts 15:36: A desire to make a return visit. Paul suggests to
Barnabas that they go visit the churches they had planted.
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1 Cor. 12:7-9: Gifts often originate as impressions from the
Lord. Wisdom, knowledge, and faith all start out as Holy
Spirit-generated thoughts.
Audibly
1 Sam. 3:7-10: “The Lord called Samuel…Samuel said, ‘Speak
for your servant is listening.’” Samuel, having never heard the
Lord’s voice, is guided by Eli.
Exodus 33:11: “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as
a man speaks with his friend.” Moses, having spent 40 years in
the desert and having confronted Pharaoh, converses with God.
1 Kings 19:11-12: “And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
Elijah finds God not in the wind, an earthquake, or a fire, but a
whisper.
Inwardly
1 Sam. 23:2: “He inquired of the Lord…The Lord answered.”
David hears of the Philistine’s attack and looting and asks God
what his response should be.
Through Surprising Means

Exodus 3:4: A bush. Of all things, God speaks to Moses out of
a shrub.
Through Visions
Ezek. 12:23-28: “Every vision will be fulfilled.” God is tired of
cynicism concerning his speaking. Though there have been
false visions, he promises a change.
Ezek. 40:2-4: “Tell…everything you see.” Ezekiel had many
visions that God asked him to record.
Dan. 8:1: “I, Daniel, had a vision.” Daniel actually has a series
of visions that leave him exhausted and ill.
Through Dreams
Gen. 37:5 “Joseph had a dream.” Joseph tells his dream to his
brothers and they hate him all the more.
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Through Demonstrations of Power
Acts 3:1-10: “All the people were... filled with wonder and
amazement.” Peter and John heal a beggar, draw a crowd, and
bring thousands to Christ.
1 Cor. 2:4-5 “My message and my preaching were not with
wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the
Spirit’s power.” Paul recounts his evangelistic methodology –
it’s not his words that count, but what God does through him
that communicates most loudly.
passage:
“David inquired of God…God answered him”
(1 Chron. 14:14-16).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, where did David get this habit of

asking you questions? Why is it that you want us to ask you
questions? What do you want to show me about this
Scripture?”

1. What are some ways in which you have spoken to me in
the past?
2. How have I quenched your Spirit when you wanted to

speak to me?
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3. Is there anything I’m doing now that is quenching your
Spirit?
4. Have I limited the ways in which you’ve desired to

speak? How?
5. What can I do to better hear your voice?
Go outside somewhere in nature and imagine yourself

sitting with God. As you look at the world around you, ask
God to teach you about his love. Can you see God’s love as
you look at trees, hills, water or wildlife that you may find
around you?
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Day Seven
God’s communication principles

Real Life Story
The hospitality of our host families during the mission trip I led
to England in 2003 was overwhelming. There were so many
people who wanted to house our team that we had the privilege
of eating at different homes throughout the week.
Each evening we all split up to have tea/dinner with our new

families. One evening, one of the teams forgot to get the address
of the home where they were to eat. They did, however, have
the family name and the street circled on the map. When they
got to the street, not knowing which house to knock on, they
prayed.
Then they ran into a woman on the street. “Do you know where
the Ellis family lives?” they asked her.
“Sure, they live right over there.”
The team went over to the house, rang the doorbell and waited.
A confused looking man opened the door.
“Are you Mr. Ellis?” they asked.
“Yes I am.” He replied.
“Well, we're here for dinner.”
“Oh, right. OK, fine, well come on in, then. I'll call my wife;
she isn't here now.”
We went inside and sat down while Mr. Ellis got us Cokes.
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A few minutes later, Mrs. Ellis came rushing in and frantically
began cleaning and straightening the house all the while saying,
“I'm sorry, I don't know how this happened, we didn't realize
you were coming here right now, but I'll get some leftovers out
of the fridge and we'll be eating in no time at all!”
The team ended up having a wonderful time with the Ellises.

They were so sweet and funny.
When the team arrived at its next venue, the leaders looked
concerned.
“Why didn't you eat with the Ellises?” They asked. “They just
called and had a wonderful meal ready for you and you never
showed up!”
“We did eat with the Ellises!” the team said.
It turned out that Mr. Ellis’s brother – also a Mr. Ellis – lived in
the same area. When complete strangers arrived unannounced
on the doorstep, expecting to be given dinner, these good folks
invited them in and fed them! Now that’s hospitality.
Some principles
Communication can be complicated and can complicate our
relationships. We’ve established that God wants a personal
relationship and that he uses a variety of means to
communicate. This book is founded on the premise that his
relationship with us is similar to our other relationships in that it
involves frequent two-way communication. In John 15:15,
Jesus says to his disciples, “I have called you friends.” Friends
talk. John 10 describes this personal relationship as one
between a shepherd and his sheep. It is a relationship in which
the shepherd calls to the sheep, and the sheep obey him.
Looking at Scripture, we can know a few things for sure about

the way God wants us to interact with him. Here are a few
divine communication principles.
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(1) In normal personal relationships, dialogue is initiated by
asking questions. Questions prompt responses. Isaiah 8:19
says, “Should not a people inquire of their God?” Jeremiah
10:21 says, “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of
the Lord; so they do not prosper.” The Scriptures are full of
examples of people asking God questions. He expects us to
initiate dialogue, just as we would in any personal relationship.
Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you.” God
wants to answer your question.
(2) In normal personal relationships, after posing a question, it

is customary to expect a response and to wait for it. So it is
with God. He is neither rude nor unreasonable. He wants to
answer us; he doesn't want to exasperate us. Matthew 7:9 says,
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?”
Jeremiah 33:3 says he will answer us if we call on him.
Habakkuk 2:1 underscores this principle. Too often, however,
after posing a question, we lack the faith or patience to wait for
God's response. Or we doubt that he will answer us (see James
1:5-8).
(3) In normal personal relationships, the listener does not

interrupt or allow distractions, but focuses his attention on
the speaker. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am
God.” Being still in this sense means more than physical
inactivity; it implies a stillness of mind and spirit. Yet in our
conversations with God, we often allow irrelevant thoughts or
outside distractions to interrupt us. Often we are like rude
children who have never been taught to sit still and focus our
attention on what others are saying. In the process, we can shut
down our dialogue. We allow our own thoughts to run ahead of
and get in the way of God's answer to our question. It’s
important to intentionally quiet ourselves. We need to be free
from distractions. Matthew 6:6 says that when we pray, we
should “close the door.” The place of prayer should be private
and distraction-free.
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How can we hear his still, small voice if our own thoughts are
running rampant? In John 10:27 Jesus says, “My sheep listen to
my voice.” He says this multiple times, emphasizing its
importance.
(4) In normal personal relationships we recognize the voice of

the other party. While our lives are filled with hundreds of
relationships, we recognize the voices of our friends. They can
call us on the phone, and we can identify them before they give
their name. John 10:4 says, “His sheep follow him because they
know his voice.” Author Peter Lord tells the story of an
entomologist studying crickets who could distinguish the
unique sounds of over 200 crickets. He did this by listening
carefully to them over a period of time. Gradually, he began to
recognize their differences. I have a pilot friend who can
distinguish the sounds of different jets flying five miles
overhead in the same way. So it is as we listen to God's voice.
The point is, if you are not accustomed to hearing God’s voice,
don’t expect miracles right away. Keep practicing. Just as you
learned to recognize the voice of a friend, you will learn to
recognize his voice.
(5) In normal personal relationships, people use a variety of

means to communicate. I write letters, send e-mails, make
phone calls, communicate messages through others, and talk to
my wife, Karen. In all these different means of communication,
she has learned not to look at the channel (the means I use to
communicate), but at the message being conveyed. This
principle fits with the variety of methods we see God employing
to communicate with people in Scripture (listed on Day 6).
(6) In an intimate friendship, there are expressions of

affection and extended periodic conversations. So it must be
with God. Too many marriages have frequent but, ultimately
shallow, detail-driven conversations as the only basis for
communication. In her soul, a wife may be crying out for a
deep conversation over a candle-lit dinner, but find that day
after day her husband’s communication is limited to an
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exchange of information about the schedule, the kids’
education, or his own needs. So it is with our loving, heavenly
Father; he longs to express his love to us and he delights in our
expressions of love for him.
(7) Honesty is important. God wants us to be honest with him,

just as we expect honesty from our friends. You will notice in
listening prayer times that if there’s something bugging you (i.e.
a known sin in your life, something you’re ticked off at
someone about, your own questions about God’s wisdom,
boredom with your life or your relationship with him), it’s
really hard to hear God and get truly intimate with him until
you’ve cleared the air regarding whatever issue is bothering
you.
These seven principles are the key to improving our

communication with God. He will allow us to settle for less,
but in Jeremiah 29:13 he says, “You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart.” A wholehearted
seeking involves deep, intimate dialogue laced with expressions
of affection. This is one reason God tells us to worship and
praise him.
Apply it
passage:
“His sheep follow him because they know his voice.” John
10:4
Pray: “How is it that your sheep recognize your voice? What

does your voice sound like? Is there anything you’d like to
reveal from this passage?”
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1. Have I picked up any bad habits in the way I
communicate with people? What are they?
2. Is there anything you want me to try doing as I attempt

to converse with you?
3. Have I failed to expect you to respond or even to give

you the time to respond? How so?
4. Are there any questions you’d like me to ask you?
5. Is there anything you’d like to share with me?
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Day Eight
How to start a conversation

with God
Real Life Story
I’ve watched many of my friends’ marriages wind up on the
rocks. The hardest situations to understand are those where
both spouses seem to have good communication skills, but
where they have stopped caring for and serving their mate.
Some time ago I counseled a young married couple named Sue
and Dave [not their real names], whose marriage was teetering
dangerously. Dave had foolishly withheld secrets from his past.
When Sue began to uncover those secrets, her world was turned
upside down. She didn’t know how far she could trust him, or
even who this person was that she had married. She felt
incredible pain and betrayal. Dave in turn was ashamed and
didn’t know what to do.
For a long time it looked as though their marriage would end

that first year. Sue wanted to know every detail about how far
his betrayal had gone. When Dave was finished sharing the
details, she wanted to know more, not knowing if there were
further revelations that he was holding back. As Sue kept
probing for information where there was nothing left to
disclose, Dave wanted to scream, “OK, already – stop torturing
me! I’m sorry, I repent!”
After a while, Sue was so sickened by what she had uncovered

that she felt as though she was living with a stranger. She
couldn’t bear the thought of being around him, much less being
married to him.
Over time and with much effort, they began to understand one
another. They had to start getting to know one another from
scratch. They went on dates and were polite to one another. He
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asked her questions about her interests and her feelings. He
learned how to be honest with her. In time, they began to
rebuild their relationship, and today it is strong because of
commitment and hard work.
What Sue and Dave learned about communication saved their

marriage. Sitting down and talking with someone for the first
time can be awkward, particularly if that person doesn’t
communicate in conventional ways.
Apply it
We see in the New Testament that it was natural to
communicate personally with God, but today an entire
generation of disciplers is failing to teach this most fundamental
of spiritual skills. By studying and applying biblical principles
of communication, we can better understand how to converse
with our heavenly Father.
Four steps
Jesus calls us friends. We are made in God’s image to abide in
him and have a personal relationship with him. Conversation
with God is not unlike conversation with our friends. I
recommend the following four steps based on Scripture:
Step #1 Focus
Step #2 Repent
Step #3 Ask
Step #4 Listen
Look up the Scripture passages under each step below.
Step #1: Focus: Begin by meditating on Scripture.

People talk about what interests them. God tells us what
interests him - he expresses his thoughts and interests in
Scriptures like the ones below. He’s interested in….
John 15:9: YOU: “As the Father has loved me, so
have I loved you.”
Zeph. 3:17: YOU: “He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love, he will
rejoice over you with singing.”
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Jer. 31:3: YOU: “I have loved you with an everlasting
love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
John 14:1: Your worries: “Do not let your hearts be
troubled.”
Matt. 24:14: Hope for all: “And this gospel of the kingdom
will be preached in the whole world.”
2 Peter 3:9: Salvation for all: “…not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Matt. 28:19: Discipleship for all: “Go and make disciples of
all nations…”
Isaiah 61:1: The poor: “The Lord has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor.”
Isaiah 61:8: Justice: “I, the Lord, love justice.”
Step #2: Ask, “Are we OK?”

People don’t talk to each other when they’ve hurt one another.
We can grieve the Holy Spirit when he has counseled us and we
have spurned his counsel. We may need to repent to reestablish
the relationship.
Jer. 13:11: “They have not listened.”
Acts 3:9-19: “You acted in ignorance…repent then… that
times of refreshing may come…”
Rev. 2:5: “Repent and do the things you did at first.”
1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and
will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.”
Step #3: Ask the Lord

People need something to talk about. We seek the Lord’s
counsel by asking him questions and listening for his response.
Isaiah 8:19: “Should not a people inquire of their God?”
Jer. 10:21: “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire
of the Lord.”
Habak.1:2, 2:2: “How long, O Lord?…Then the Lord replied.”
1 Kings 22:5: “Seek the counsel of the Lord.”
Prov. 8:17: “Those who seek me find me.”
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Step #4: Listen for his response
People need to wait for a response to a question. Sometimes it
takes a while for our conversational partner to respond. We
need to listen, expecting and waiting for an answer.
1 Sam. 3:9: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Psalm 34:4: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me.”
Prov. 8:32-33: “Listen to me…listen to my instruction.”
John 10:3, 16, 27: “The sheep listen to his voice.”
“They too will listen to my voice.”
“My sheep listen to my voice.”
Reading through the above list is only one step in the direction
of hearing God in what may be new ways that he wants to speak
to you. Once you’ve come to the place of being able to give
intellectual assent to the fact that he has spoken in many ways
to people throughout the Bible, and that he may very well do so
today, you’ve begun to let him out of the box that you’ve had
him in. Now you are positioned to begin looking for the ways
that he may be talking to you. God wants you to actually look
for and even expect him to carry on his conversation with you
through a variety of means.
passage:
“Call upon me…and I will listen to you…seek me with all your
heart” (Jeremiah 29:12-13).
Pray: “Lord God, I confess that I don’t call nearly enough,

listen hard enough, and too often, I seek you half-heartedly.
What does it mean to seek you with all my heart? What do you
want to show me about this Scripture?”
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Spend some time in prayer.
1. Are there areas of my life where I’ve kept things from
you?
2. What can I do to deepen our relationship?
3. Is there a passage of Scripture that you want to show

me?
4. Are there questions that I need to be asking you? What

are they?
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Day Nine
God speaks through the Bible

Real Life Story
I have personally experienced God’s direction through the
Scriptures and have heard many accounts of people who sought
God’s direction in their lives and received it directly from the
Bible.
I remember when my grandfather died. I loved my grandfather.

He loved me and spent time with me. Golf was a passion of his.
We spent many mornings together on the public course in
Fernandina Beach, Florida. Afterwards we’d talk over a
hamburger and coke. He loved to tell jokes and would always
repeat the punch line and laugh.
When Granddad died, I struggled to know that God understood

the grief I felt. I hadn’t had to deal with death on this level
before. So when God shared with me 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, it
blew me away. In this passage, Paul compares our mortal body
to a tent. “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is
destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in
heaven…For while we are in this tent, we groan and are
burdened…”
Those were exactly the words I needed to hear. They were

God’s personal words of comfort to his hurting child. His
words showed me that he empathized with my grief and held
out the hope of life beyond this earth for my grandfather. All of
a sudden, my relationship with God was very personal. His
words out of Scripture were a great comfort to me. It felt as
though he had written them just for me. I knew that he hadn’t
left me to struggle through this alone – he cared. I felt a
wonderful consolation in my loss, and I experienced a
revelation of God’s personal love as words on paper leapt off
the page and spoke to me.
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The Bible is the starting place in our pursuit of a personal
relationship with God because it is his revelation of himself to
mankind. He revealed himself to us in his inspired, infallible
Scriptures because he loves us. It is not only the story of his
relationship with people, but also one of the main tools that he
uses to communicate with us. God instructs us and guides us
using the Bible. Because God uses the Scriptures to speak to
us, we look to them for his direction. In our society we are
blessed with the opportunity to own multiple copies of the Bible
and to be educated in how to study it.
If you’re like me, you began communicating with God relying

primarily on the Bible. You learned to respect and venerate it.
Since it is unchanging, you can always turn to it – there are
God’s words in black and white. The Bible is God’s tool for
communicating with us. We must understand the value of
Scripture; we see in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that “all Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting,
and training.”
Don’t limit God!

Having said this, we need to recognize that anything taken too
far can get in the way of the truth. If you never exit your prayer
closet into the world, you may lose touch with the world.
Similarly, some of us have substituted a “relationship” with a
book for a relationship with God. God can talk to us any way
he wants. After all, he’s God! He chose many different ways to
speak to people in Scripture, and he may choose different ways
with us as well. He does not tell us in Scripture that he has
limited himself and will only speak to us through the Bible.
As we saw in Scripture on Day 6 of this devotional, the Bible

gives us example after example of a God who speaks not only
through Scripture, but also through circumstances, through
other people, through dreams, impressions, and numerous other
means. He used a rooster to convict Peter of his faithlessness.
He has probably spoken to you through your friends or family
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members. He regularly uses pastoral sermons to challenge
people to godly living.
He doesn’t want us to limit the ways in which we look for him

to speak. Some people take the path of least resistance, figuring
that God speaks primarily through circumstances. Others rely
too heavily on their feelings. Still others are flaky in pursuing
every impression that they interpret as coming from God, even
when the impressions may contradict Scripture.
God created you. He wants to have a personal relationship with

you more than you want to connect with him. Remind yourself,
as we Christians often tell nonbelievers, “He loves you!” He
didn’t just give you a general revelation; he wants you to know
him personally as an individual. He knows your worries. He
has numbered the hairs on your head and cares for you more
than many sparrows. He wants an intimate relationship with
you.
The Bible is the account of a God who speaks directly and

relationally, not obliquely. Because he is interested in
relationship and good communication, we can expect him to be
clear. When we see examples of him speaking using Old
Testament Scripture in the New Testament, it is often to
confirm what he has said in other ways. As Hebrews 1:1 says,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets
at many times and in various ways…” There are many
examples of this in Acts, the last of which is in Acts 28:25-29,
where Paul cites Isaiah to show that God has sent salvation to
the Gentiles.
But if you lack experience in hearing God’s voice, you can’t be

blamed for asking whether or not conversation with God is even
possible. Restricting yourself to the Bible makes it all so much
more clear cut. You may find yourself asking honest questions
like: Is it supposed to be a kind of monologue, a one-way
chattering to the air, or a dialogue? And if it's meant to be a
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dialogue, then am I meant to hear God speak only through the
Bible like some kind of codebook?
If we truly believe that the Bible is inspired, then we must not

try to torture meaning from it to fit our experience. Rather, we
should follow the patterns and principles that it gives us.
Apply it
passage:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting, and training” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the gift of

Scripture. Thank you for speaking it into existence as you
communicated to men and they obediently wrote what they
perceived you to say down on parchment. Thank you for the
many ways in which it can be used.
Is there a particular truth you’d like to show me from this

verse?”

1. Lord, have I failed to look to the Bible for guidance in
my life?
2. Have I failed to keep an open mind about the ways in

which you may choose to speak to me? When?
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3. How have you chosen to speak to me in the past?
4. What can I do to better trust you in the future?
5. Is there anything you want to say to me?
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Day Ten
Getting control of your

thought life
Real Life Story
Several Christmases ago, someone in our family got the
computer game called “Myst.” That’s Myst as in “mystery.”
Perhaps you’ve seen it or played it. You find yourself on an
island that is apparently deserted, but a series of obscure clues
come to light. As you piece together the clues, a story begins to
take shape. If you stay at it long enough, you can uncover the
mystery.
Our family quickly became absorbed trying to find the clues.

We took turns for hours at a time. Each person made notes as to
where they’d been on the island and what they’d discovered. It
became the main topic of conversation around the house. I’d
work at it late into the night.
“Dad, what did you figure out?” The kids would ask upon
waking up in the morning.
“Well, I found out that there’s a cave.”
“What was in the cave?”
“There are a bunch of things you can look at. Some of them are
clues and others don’t seem to have any significance.”
“Did the cave lead you anywhere?”
“No, there is a switch on the wall that might open something,
but I couldn’t figure it out.”
So it went for several days. I’m not sure, but I think I began to
dream about that dumb game. My mind was wrapped around
all the clues. Eventually we did figure out the mystery, but as I
look back on it, I see it was only because of the focused
attention we gave to the game. In the process, it took over our
thought life. The same dynamic applies to anything we give our
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attention to for an extended time. Whether it’s football on
Sunday afternoons or romance novels, our minds tend to follow
the familiar territory of past thoughts.
Yesterday we saw that a primary way God speaks is through the

Bible. As you’ve meditated on Scripture, perhaps you’ve seen
that. Perhaps the Lord has brought Scriptures to mind that
you’ve memorized in order to communicate with you. God
wants to put the spotlight on your thought life. He wants to
exchange your thoughts for his thoughts.
Here’s the process by which he helps us do that: “Whatever is

true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).
God has deposited his thoughts in Scripture. As we meditate on

them, we fill our minds with his thoughts. What better way to
get to know someone than to focus on what they've said?
Eventually that person’s thoughts begin to fill our minds. As I
meditate on Scripture, I give the Holy Spirit a store of “God
thoughts” to bring to my mind later at an appropriate time.
We tend to think about those things that we focus on. One way
to crowd out those thoughts that lead us away from God is to
exchange them for thoughts based upon Scripture.
Of course, there are other thoughts we can think that will do this
as well. Those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely,
admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy are not necessarily found
only in Scripture. They may simply be things we’ve observed
in our workaday world. What’s more, in Philippians 4:9, Paul
holds up his own example as one that his Philippian readers
should imitate. The example of other godly Christians also
illustrates this passage. Reading Christian biographies, like
Rees Howells, Intercessor (see the Recommended Reading at
the end of the book) can set your spiritual sights higher in the
same way that meditating on Scripture can.
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In our society, these kinds of spiritual thoughts too frequently
find themselves in competition with a host of other distractions
as we immerse ourselves in noise from TV's, Game Boys,
Walkmans, newspapers, radios, DVDs, and unedifying people.
No one is suggesting that you become a monk. But it is time to
pay attention to your thought life. It is time to regulate what
fills your mind.
Apply it
passage:
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if
anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things”
(Phil. 4:8).
A good way to apply the Philippians 4 passage is to begin by

listing some things that fit under each category that Paul lists.
Begin by looking at the list below and start writing things that
fit under each category. After you’ve done that, spend a minute
meditating on each category. Scripture tells us that as we do so,
we’ll be conformed to Christ’s image.
Whatever is true
Whatever is noble
Whatever is right
Whatever is pure
Whatever is lovely
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Whatever is admirable
Anything excellent or praiseworthy
Pray: “Heavenly Father, please show me how I can begin

exchanging my thoughts for yours. Show me which of my
thoughts get in the way of your thoughts and what to do about
that.”

1. Pour your heart out to the Lord. Tell Him how much
you love Him, then listen for His response.
2. Lord would you speak to me through your word today?

Please lead me to a passage that will speak to me.
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Day Eleven
How do we listen?
Real Life Story
Sometimes after a difficult day at the office I’ll come home to
the usual chaos that five children can create. Here is a typical
scene from a few years ago:
I walk into the kitchen by way of the garage door, my mind still
caught up in the day’s events. Immediately a barrage of
information and questions comes from the children:
Leah: “Hi, Daddy… Help me do my shoelaces.”

Emily: “Daddy, listen to what happened to me! We went down
by the creek to look for salamanders and…”
Seth: “Oh, Dad, you’re home. Could you help me with my
trigonometry? I haven’t been able to figure it out.”
Estie: “Dad, am I allowed to see a movie if Talia already saw
it? I really want to see it, but mom said that I need to talk to
you about it.”
Talia: “Yeah, but I got to see it after waiting for years – she
needs to wait too.”
All the while in the background, others will be talking back and
forth. The dog may even be barking. The phone may ring. I,
meanwhile, may only be listening with one ear as I go through
the mail, looking for and finding an unexpectedly high credit
card bill.
I’ve found that conversation in such a confusing environment

can be too difficult, and my listening skills are therefore
impaired. If someone says something to me in such a setting, I
almost never look at them while they talk. If I reply at all, it’ll
be a minimal response – probably a grunt.
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Over time I’ve learned that I need to do a better job of
anticipating and regulating these kinds of sensory overload
situations. Now the children know not to ask me questions for
the first five minutes that I’m home. When we do interact, I’m
able to be more focused, applying some of the listening skills
that work when the person I’m talking with has my full
attention.
Many people are more interested in what they have to say than
listening to another (see Pv. 18:2). When engaged in
conversation, they are lining their next response while their
partner is still speaking. The problem is that in doing so, not
only do they miss what the person’s unstated feelings may be,
they sometimes may even fail to hear the actual words
themselves (see Pv. 18:13)! Such a person may be prone to
interrupt, cutting off their partner in mid-sentence, speaking
right over the top of them.
Listening skills
We don’t come by good conversational skills naturally. And if
you struggle in listening to people whom you can see, then you
are probably going to struggle to listen to God whom you
cannot see. We need to learn how to listen – we need to work at
it. The following five principles of good listening apply not
only to conversations between people, but also to conversations
with God.
1. Create a space for the other party to speak. Most

people need to know that they have your focused
attention before they speak. Just as young couples find
it difficult to communicate over the sound of screaming
children and need to get away from the noise if they are
going to connect, so we need uninterrupted time with
God. He is not going to compete with wandering
thoughts or distractions. That is why earnest Christians
through the ages have emphasized the disciplines of
solitude and meditation. Solitude separates us from the
demands of our work-a-day world. And meditation
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involves focusing on one thought for an extended time
till it so fills our minds that all our other thoughts are
crowded out. Certain places are quieter than others and
certain times (such as the early morning hours) are less
busy than others.
2. Once alone with your conversation partner, you should

look at him or her. When you train your eyes on
someone, you pick up nonverbal cues. You become
fully alive to their presence. An application for our
conversations with God is this: Praising and worshiping
him helps us focus our mind’s eye on the Lord. This is
one reason why worship is important. It helps us to
better see him. By focusing on him and extending our
attention and energy his way, we enter his presence.
3. Ask questions. Questions show interest and they elicit a

response from the other party. Most people apprehend
only the most superficial things about one another. We
go deeper in understanding their desires and thoughts by
exchanging information with them. Questions dredge
information out into the open air.
4. Acknowledge responses. In a typical conversation, you

give feedback. You say “okay,” “uh-huh,” “I
understand,” etc., to show that you’re following the
point. If you’re a GREAT listener, experts say, you’ll
also restate what the other person said. And if it’s
extremely important to you, you’ll even take a note. Do
the same thing with God. Thank him. Write down your
impressions of what he said. Too often God gives us the
very thing we’re looking for – for example, wisdom
concerning a decision or a particular circumstance – and
we fail to adequately acknowledge his grace in our lives.
5. Understand that we are not promised a response. Don’t

get frustrated by silence. We are promised when we
pray according to his will that he hears and grants our
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request. God may be saying, “Do what you think is
best.” Replacing Judas was one of the disciples’ first
important decisions, and they made it by rolling dice
after ten days of waiting on God in prayer! God has
given us the Holy Spirit to guide us. You may want to
consider whether, after ten days of silence on an issue,
he may be leaving it up to you to make your best call.
Apply it
passage:
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the
nations...” (Psalm 46:10).
Pray: “Lord, why is it important that I am still? How is that

related to knowing you? How is that related to your being
exalted among the nations?”

Spend some time in prayer. Close the door and, either literally
or metaphorically, get down on your hands and knees to create
an environment of complete focus. Sing or listen to a worship
song, or read a psalm or hymn of praise aloud to God.
1. Ask God to free your mind of all other thoughts and

concerns for this time of conversation with him.
Commit to him that you want to give this time to him
and him alone. Ask him to help you focus your mind on
him.
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2. Is there anything you want to say to me now?
3. Are there any questions you would have me ask you?
Write down any impressions you feel he’s giving you.
Ask him the questions he gives you.
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Day Twelve
Impressions
Real Life Story
A recent winter was cold and miserable. What made it
particularly bad for a missionary family living in Philadelphia
was that the brick façade of their house began to pull away from
its structure. If you looked up along the side, you could see it
buckling and a gap appeared. It looked dangerous. A piece of
it fell off and almost hit a passerby.
The family’s five-year-old daughter had a dream that the whole

family moved across the street into another home. They prayed
about whether perhaps the Lord was warning them. Then, a
coworker thought he heard the Lord saying that the house
would be condemned within a month.
The missionaries prayed about it and didn’t have peace about

moving out. A month passed and their home was not
condemned. Another month passed and some money was
donated to help fix up the façade. Eventually the old façade
was torn down and replaced with a new one.
Was the coworker wrong to share what he perceived God to be

saying? No – that’s not the lesson here. No one is 100%
accurate all the time. By submitting it for prayer, he gave the
missionary family the opportunity to confirm it or not. On other
occasions, this coworker has shared impressions of what the
Lord said to him and, when tested against Scripture and the
passage of time, the words were indeed from God. Since then,
this young man has become more accurate in discerning what
God is saying to him. Sometimes, as in the case of this
illustration, he still “misses God” as he humbly submits an
impression of what God may have said for review by a fellow
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Christian. Doing so can seem risky; but he sharpens his hearing
and proves himself trustworthy to the Lord.
Some people who are prone to seeing the world in black and
white terms may struggle with this. “Would God ever be so
imprecise? Why would he allow us to misinterpret him like
that?” Yet look at such a person’s life, and you’ll find that they
have missed God as frequently as anybody else! That’s the
human condition – we’re all fallible. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says,
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror…Now I know
in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." The
Pharisees had a narrowly defined view of how God could speak.
Instead of helping them draw near to him, this view only set
them up as antagonists of Jesus. Those who say, “God only
speaks through the Bible” still have to identify particular
passages, interpret them, and apply them. Good, godly people
disagree over which passages to use, how they should be
interpreted, and then how they should be applied.
Where thoughts come from

All thoughts are not our own. Just as the devil can insert a
tempting thought into our brains, so the Holy Spirit can insert a
thought. If this weren’t true, we wouldn’t have been told to take
every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). If this weren’t
true, what role would the Holy Spirit have in leading us to
repentance? Where does that spontaneous desire to show love
for another come from, if not from God? As Romans 3:12 says,
“There is no one who does good, not even one.”
If we agree that the Holy Spirit gives us thoughts or counsel

periodically, how do we distinguish these thoughts from other
thoughts? Some people call these thoughts, “impressions from
the Lord.” Impressions are thoughts that flit and flash on the
screen of our minds. Our minds receive hundreds of
impressions a day. Some may be temptations whispered by the
enemy, and others may be the Holy Spirit speaking to us.
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We sometimes conclude that Paul and the other apostles never
had to struggle with wondering whether a desire or a hunch they
had was actually from God. But we see them in frequent
conflict in the book of Acts. In Acts 15:36, Paul and Barnabas
wanted to make a return visit to their mission churches. Where
did this desire come from? Perhaps God was speaking to Paul
through his natural inner motivation to see people grow. Or
perhaps Paul heard the Lord whisper to him. In either case,
they immediately disagreed about how to do it and parted
company.
Impressions often seem very much like our own thoughts. The
Holy Spirit may speak to us in an impression—a voice so still
and small that it is easy to dismiss as being our own thought.
Indeed, most American Christians probably do dismiss this
voice, and so never sharpen their spiritual hearing.
Were we able to immediately recognize his voice, the Christian

walk would only be a matter of obedience. Discernment and
wisdom would not play such an important role in our lives.
However, the fact is that we refine our senses by focusing on
them. That is how a blind person refines the senses of touch
and hearing far beyond the level of those of us who see. He
focuses on them.
Growing in discernment
In the same way we refine our ability to discern God’s voice.
Because we are so unfamiliar with it, we struggle to recognize it
at first. We may experience more failure than success. Yet we
must struggle to grow. To shrink from failure is to remain
immature in our faith.
So, as we listen for God, we recognize that some other foolish

thing is likely to pop into our minds instead. We acknowledge
that it may seem impossible to distinguish the foolish or fleshly
from the God-initiated. We try to deal with this problem by
sharing with others the impressions we receive, judging them
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against what God does subsequently and in view of the
Scriptures.
In some cases, there may be no correlation between what you

thought God was saying and what actually happens. However,
in other cases, the specificity of what you have been shown in
prayer lines up so well with what God does, there can be no
doubt that God has spoken to you. When you see that God
actually did speak, not only does your faith in him grow, but
your faith in your own ability to hear grows as well.
Because we can be so fallible in our hearing, one moment

interpreting our stray thoughts as directives and the next writing
off the Holy Spirit’s promptings, we need to start paying
attention to our thought life. To grow in this skill of
distinguishing between your impressions of God’s voice and
your own thoughts, you have to take some risks. It’s like riding
a bicycle. You have to be willing to take a few falls in order to
master it. You have to be willing to say, “These may just be my
own thoughts and not God speaking, but this is the impression I
received.”
To test whether an impression is from God or not, test it against

the points listed in Day Two of this devotional. If it’s a toss-up,
pray about it with some others, and then do what you think God
is asking you to do, even though you’re unsure. This is how
you grow in your discernment. God will honor your earnest
desire and, as you debrief with your accountability partner, he’ll
show you how to better distinguish his voice next time. We
learn by taking risks - no risks, no increasing of your trust. No
trust, no “getting on the bicycle.” No getting on the bicycle, no
progress.
Apply it
passage:
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“My thoughts are not your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, have I mistaken my thoughts for your

thoughts? Do I know your thoughts? How can I better
distinguish between your thoughts and mine? What do you
want me to get out of this passage?”

1. Sometimes I struggle to distinguish between my own
thoughts and your voice. How can I tell the difference
between the two?
2. Was there ever an impression that you gave me that I

dismissed because I thought it was merely one my own
thoughts - but was actually from you?
3. Have I ever given you credit for an impression when it

was just my own thoughts? What was that?
4. What do you want me to do to hear your voice better?
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5. Is there anything you want to share with me today?
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Day Thirteen
Other ways God speaks

Real Life Story
Karen and I lived in West Palm Beach, Florida for seven years.
Towards the end of the seventh year, we began to sense that
God wanted to move us elsewhere. Where, we didn’t know.
We looked at Colorado Springs, Dallas and Atlanta. We felt
that he wanted us to be within an hour’s drive of a major
international airport in an inexpensive, family-friendly
environment.
Eventually we settled on one of three towns an hour’s drive

from Atlanta. Then God confirmed through a variety of
circumstances, Scriptures, and other means that Gainesville was
to be our new location.
We put our Florida house on the market and took a couple of

house-hunting trips to Gainesville. We were tired of life in the
suburbs and so, began looking for a piece of property in the
country where we could build our own home. Within a month,
the Florida home sold and we began to feel desperate. What if
we couldn’t find a place? We’d scoured all of north Georgia
and couldn’t find anything within our price range. In another
few weeks, we’d be forced to move all our stuff and we didn’t
have any place to go to!
One night Karen and I were discussing our situation as we

prepared for bed.
She said, “I just read a book by Dick Eastman where they were
in a situation like ours and he anointed a For Sale sign with oil
and God answered his prayer. I’m going to do that, and what’s
more, I think that we should pray for a dream.”
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We had never prayed for a dream before; I was skeptical.
“That’s great, Dear. I’ll pray that God gives you a dream
tonight.”
“No, you’re the head of the house, I’m going to pray that you
get the dream!” she exclaimed, and proceeded to pray right then
before we drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, I had the dream she’d prayed for! I
woke up, amazed that God had answered the prayer. In the
dream I saw our two-story house on land we were going to buy
from a man named Tom.
The next week, I happened to be in the Gainesville area at a

conference. On a whim before leaving town, I looked in the
classified ads. There was a piece of property that seemed
perfect, and when I saw it, I knew it was the very property God
had set aside for us. The next week, we moved all of our stuff
out of the Florida home and drove up to Gainesville. I went and
negotiated a deal with the owner the next day and, yes, his name
was Tom!
God’s whispers
It’s rare in my experience that God speaks in such dramatic
ways. If you look at the hundreds of decisions you make in a
week, even if you are praying always as the Bible suggests that
we should, it is far more common for the Father to speak to you
in a voice so quiet that it often requires some faith to believe
that it was really him and to follow through in obedience.
Because this book is about helping you learn how you can talk
conversationally with your heavenly Father, I’ve emphasized
the often subtle way that the Holy Spirit communicates by
whispering to our spirit. At the same time, as noted in Day 6,
he is not limited in the means that he uses. You’ll recall, we
listed a variety of methods: through Scripture, others,
circumstances, audibly, inwardly, and through dreams, visions,
and demonstrations of power. Because some of these methods
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may seem rather dramatic, they don’t so much evoke a
conversational response to us as they do evoke a sense of awe
and worship.
An impression is more commonplace, and more difficult to

discern than when God speaks inwardly. When God speaks
inwardly, his voice sounds as clear to you as if it were coming
from someone in the same room. It is as though he did speak
audibly. Though not heard by others, his spoken inward voice
is unmistakable. It crashes through your consciousness with a
timbre and authority that stops you in your tracks. God says,
“My thoughts are not your thoughts” in Isaiah 55:8. When you
hear his thoughts expressed in words, they “sound” different
than your own thoughts, and are clear. Many Christians
occasionally “hear” God speak to them inwardly. We need to
distinguish this communication from the everyday impressions
we receive which may or may not be the Holy Spirit nudging us
in a particular direction.
Earlier we studied some of the different ways in which God

speaks. Let’s look at some new Scriptures and again study
ways in which God has chosen to speak to people.
Through Scripture
Acts 8:32-33: “The eunuch was reading… Scripture…”
He was reading a messianic prophecy
from Isaiah 53, setting him up to ask
Philip about the Messiah.
Luke 4:17-21: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled….”
Jesus quotes Isaiah 61.
Through Others
Acts 1:8: “You will be my witnesses.” Jesus
describes the way in which he will speak
to the nations: through them!
Acts 8:34-35: “Philip…told him the good news about
Jesus.” God guided Philip to the head of
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finance for the Ethiopian kingdom to lead
him to Christ.
Circumstances/Events
Acts 17:5-10: Paul and Silas leave Thessalonica
because of persecution. They flee to
Berea when it is no longer safe.
Impressions
Eph. 3:16-19: Knowing Christ’s love. The width,
length, height, and depth of Christ’s love
are grasped in a way that surpasses
knowledge.
Col. 1:9: Spiritual wisdom. We are filled with the
knowledge of his will through spiritual
wisdom and understanding.
Audibly
Matt. 3:17: “A voice from heaven…” Jesus gets
God’s blessing on the occasion of his
baptism.
Acts 9:4-7: “He fell to the ground and heard a voice.”
Jesus confronts Paul with a question that
changes his life.
Acts 8:26-29: “An angel of the Lord said to Philip…”
An angel, one of God’s messengers, gives
Philip directions to Gaza.
Inwardly
1 Chron. 14:14-16: “David inquired of God…God
answered.” David had the habit of
asking God for his opinion every time he
got into a scrape, which was often.
Ezek. 12:1: “The word of the Lord came to me.”
Ezekiel hears a very specific message
from God, not as a vision or a dream, but
as words demanding action.
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Through Surprising Means
Job 38:1: A storm. The Lord chooses an awe-
inspiring vehicle for his speeches to
Job.
Num. 22:30: A donkey. God uses an animal to
convict Balaam of his sin.
Through Visions
Dan. 4:5: “The visions that passed through my
mind terrified me.” Nebuchadnezzar’s
visions felt so real and were so
harrowing that he was scared to death.
Acts 10:10-19: Peter “fell into a trance.” The key issue -
the particulars of the new covenant - is
communicated to Peter in a way he is
sure to remember.
Acts 16:9: “Paul had a vision.” The Lord gives Paul
a vision to communicate a course
correction.
Through Dreams
Gen. 40:8: “Do not interpretations belong to God?
Tell me your dreams.” Joseph, having
had a few dreams of his own, knows that
God uses them to communicate, even to
kings.
Joel 2:28: “I will pour out my Spirit on all
people…your old men will dream
dreams.” God promises to repay his
people for the years the locusts have
eaten.
Through Demonstrations of Power

1 Cor. 4:20: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of
talk but of power.” Paul challenges his
antagonists to a duel based on God’s
power.
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1 Thess. 1:5: The “gospel came to you not simply with
words, but also with power.” The
Thessalonians believed so quickly
because God backed up Paul’s words
with miracles.
Apply it
passage:
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28).
Do you remember the time before e-mail existed? People called

more and used “snail mail” more. Would you want to suddenly
be the only one not to be able to be reached by e-mail? In the
same way God wants you to be open to him speaking to you in
new ways. If you are afraid of allowing God to speak to you in
a new way, then share your feelings with him.
Pray: “Lord, if you want to speak to me in a variety of ways,

please prepare me. If you want to speak to me in a new way,
you need to make it very clear to me that it is you.

1. As I’m reading the Bible today, please give me a special

verse that will speak to me in an area of my life in which
I need to hear from you.
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Ask the Lord to give you other questions to ask him today…
2.
3.
4.
5.
Think about the ocean or go sit on the beach, if you can. If you
can’t go, close your eyes and really imagine being there. Watch
the water, listen to the waves, smell the salt, feel the sand. God
says that his love for you is deeper than the ocean. Take time to
really ponder that. If it is hard for you to accept, ask God to
break down any walls in your heart that are keeping out his
love.
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Day Fourteen
Can God trust you?

Real Life Story
Earlier, I shared a story about our daughter’s dog, Whimsy.
Whimsy has just one problem: he doesn’t know his limitations.
We live on a farm, so if you’re a dog the potential for mischief
is great. A little fluff ball of a dog has no business out among
the deer, stray dogs and coyotes that prowl the edges of our
property. On the odd occasions when Whimsy has gotten loose,
inevitably he heads for the wild, adventurous woods behind our
house. Consequently, we have a rule that he must be walked on
a leash.
Some days in winter begin so dark and cold, though! On those

occasions, it’s easier to let Whimsy out on his own than it is to
escort him around. One gray winter day, we opted for
convenience and let him out the front door. When we next
looked outside, he was gone.
Clad in pajamas and bathrobes, we broke into two search parties

and went in opposite directions. Out to the neighbor's house –
nothing. Out to the front of the property – nothing. In the
woods behind the house – nothing. The minutes ticked by. We
couldn’t help but think of our scruffy little bundle of canine
energy being devoured by wild animals.
Finally, deep in the woods, we heard the distant yipping of a

small dog. After walking long minutes in the direction of the
noise, there was Whimsy. He had gone exploring and was on
the other side of the barbed wire fence, stuck in a bramble
patch. His long black hair had wrapped itself around the thorny
stickers.
It took a pair of scissors to cut Whimsy loose. Hanging his

head, he was obviously ashamed of the circumstances in which
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he found himself. Back home, he quickly darted into his
kennel for a much-deserved “time out.”
We humans are so much like Whimsy! God speaks to us and

we disregard what he has said, proving that we can’t be trusted.
We spend time seeking the Lord, we hear from him, and then
we fail to follow through on what he’s shared with us. The
Bible says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child”
(Proverbs 22:15). God gives us many blessings in life and he
provides us with clear boundaries. In his house we are fed and
cared for. But we are enticed by the adventure of the deep
woods. Something inside us yearns to go beyond the
boundaries we’ve established. Given our independence, we
explore, unaware of the dangers we face.
And then one day, when we are caught in the snare of our
circumstances, our reality comes crashing down around us. We
recognize our peril and the foolishness that got us there, and we
cry out for mercy. Time and again our heavenly Father reaches
down and spares us from the consequences of our poor choices.
Sometimes, however, we find ourselves seemingly beyond the

reach of his mercy, trapped in a situation we didn’t
comprehend. We whine, but our choices bring us pain (Pv.
5:22).
The lesson to be learned is that of becoming trustworthy to God.

He knows the dangers that imperil us. He is our protector. He
has given us boundaries for own good, not to fence us in. A trip
to the deep woods may seem like adventure for the moment, but
ultimately we are trapped by the consequences of our actions
and must throw ourselves at the mercy of our heavenly Father.
Can God trust you? He told you to pick up your cross and
follow him. Have you laid down your cross and followed your
own way? Do you find yourself caught in the briars? The Lord
will chase you down and allow you to feel the consequences of
your actions, not because he is mean-spirited, but because he
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wants to help you avoid getting stuck again! When he calls, he
wants to know that you will come. Just as we want to know
that we can trust God, so he wants to be able to trust us as well.
Apply it
passage:
“They did what your power and will had decided beforehand
should happen” (Acts 4:28).
Pray: “With Paul I can say, ‘I have the desire to do what is

good, but I cannot carry it out.’ I struggle with my flesh. I
want to become trustworthy. When you share something with
me, I want to be able to carry it with me and be faithful to you.
Show me myself, Lord. Where do I struggle most? Show me
how to become someone you can trust.”

Tell God about how you feel today. Are you in the middle of
difficult circumstances? Tell God. Pour out your heart to him.
Write what you feel below.
Meditate on Zephaniah 3:17. “The L ORD your God is with

you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he
will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with
singing.”
Sing some praise and worship songs quietly before the Lord.
Then ask God: “Lord, what do you sing over me?”
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Day Fifteen
Following through
Real Life Story
Paul Miller was a bear of a man who ministered in the prisons
of north Georgia in the 80s and early 90s. His key lieutenant
told me about his life and ministry one day over coffee. Miller
and his wife had a team of people who ministered with them.
He constantly encouraged them to minister, to get out of their
comfort zones.
Miller’s trademark was a guitar he carried around like a

Mexican bandolero. Because he was so big, the guitar seemed
small in comparison. He was always getting the inmates to sing
along to the music.
The ministry was doing well. Many inmates gave their hearts to
Jesus as a result of the testimony and love. Then one of the
team members received a very disturbing message from the
Lord. He got a clear impression that God was going to take
Miller and his wife home—they were going to die. In fact, he
felt the Lord saying that they were going to die within two
months.
At first, he didn’t want to share this with anyone. The thought

that it might actually happen was horrifying. But the
impression was so strong that finally he got the courage to share
it, first with the leaders and then with the rest of the team.
When they were gathered, he said, “I know this is a terrible
thing to share, but I believe God said, ‘Prepare for this ministry
to be transferred within the next two months.’” He then shared
the specifics of what he felt God had shown him.
You can imagine the impact this had on the rest of the team. A
number of the team members rebuked the man who had gotten
this impression. But Miller silenced them. After praying about
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it, Miller sensed that this might in fact be what God was saying,
and he had a peace about it. As hard as it was, he began to get
his affairs in order and appointed a successor (the man who later
shared with me the details of this story) should anything
happen.
At the end of two months, Miller and his wife were in a bad car
accident in which they were critically injured. They were
pulled out of their wrecked car and loaded into an ambulance
that sped toward the hospital. As they drove, Miller lifted his
head and weakly asked the paramedic, “How’s my wife?”
“She’s gone,” came the reply.
On hearing this, Miller nodded, and breathed his last.
When the news reached the team, they reacted with a mixture of
grief and awe because God had tenderly prepared them for the
loss of their leader.
Once you’ve heard

When God has given you a directive, first write it down so that
you don’t forget it. Test it according to the scriptural pattern
given in the Day Two devotional. Then obey him. God doesn’t
speak just to sound off. When he shares something with us, he
wants us to act on it!
Apply it
Too many people are interested only in the relational dimension
of their conversation with God. Our heavenly Father wants us
not only to commune with him, he wants us to persevere. Look
up the following passages to better understand what the Bible
says about the matter.
Ezek. 11:20: “They will follow my decrees.”

Prov. 8:32: “Blessed are those who keep my ways.”
Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men!”
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John 14:23: “If anyone loves me, he will obey my
teaching.”
Hebrews 4:7b “Today, if you hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts.”
Evaluating what happened

Just as we often misunderstand one another, so it is that we can
misunderstand God. Perhaps he said something and we didn’t
hear him correctly, or we misinterpreted what he said, or we
misapplied it. That’s OK; God can handle it! As babies we
didn’t learn to communicate with our parents overnight. It took
decades for us to be able to communicate with our parents.
Many of us still haven’t learned!
When I was two years old, my parents would point into the
night sky at the moon and tell me about it. Before long, when
I’d catch sight of the moon, I’d point at it and excitedly
exclaim, “’Ee da moon?” Now, many years later, my father and
I might carry on a conversation about the impact of the lunar
gravitational pull upon tides, and the new technologies
facilitating tidal power generation and how, in essence, we are
capturing energy from the moon. But our initial conversation
began with, “’Ee da moon?”
Look at what a complex task it is to learn to communicate with

our parents:
First, we learn to recognize their voices.
Then we learn their vocabulary.
Then we decipher their meaning.
Then we learn to speak words.
Then we learn to interact.
Then we learn to respect and obey.

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Ultimately, in our 20s and 30s we may learn to communicate
with our parents on a mature level.
So it is with God. Our understanding of how to communicate

develops over a long period of time. That’s why it’s so
important to assess our interactions with him after the fact so
that we can better understand what worked (and what didn’t).
This practice – today we call it “debriefing” – is found
throughout Scripture:
Luke 2:19: “Mary treasured up all these things and

pondered them in her heart.”
Luke 24:14-15: “They were talking with each other about
everything that had happened.”
1 Cor. 14:29: “The others should weigh carefully what
is said.”
Luke 10: The debriefing with Jesus after the 72
had gone out.
passage:
“We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29).
Pray: “Lord, I want my first impulse to be to follow you no

matter the cost. I confess that I often lose courage or
conviction, or just plain forget, or even willfully disobey. What
do you have to show me about obedience?”

Wait for him to respond and write down your impression of
what he may be saying in the space allotted.
1. Do I struggle in the area of obedience?
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2. Is there anything within me that needs to die so that I
can better obey you?
3. What have you shared with me that I’ve failed to do?
4. Do I pause sufficiently to evaluate my interactions with

you?
5. What do you want me to do today?
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Day Sixteen
Listening leads to ministry

Real Life Story
One of the great joys of my life is to see my children encounter
God for themselves. It thrills me to see them personally
discover what I know to be true about our Lord. I’ve found that
the best way to impart this to them is let them have experiences
for themselves. In the spring of 2001, I accompanied two of my
daughters as they went through a ministry seminar and outreach
in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.
Before going out to minister, we prayed for God’s direction.

We paused to listen; then we got together as a group to debrief
what we perceived he had said. For some members of the
group, this probably seemed audacious. It was a threat to the
notion that God doesn’t really guide his children that often.
As we debriefed, participants shared what God had brought to

mind. The Lord directed one of the outreach participants, Joan,
to give a white cloth cross she had in her Bible to someone that
he would later direct us to along with the following message:
"This is how God sees you, you’re pure, clean and white."
Later, Joan met a man who was in the last stages of AIDS with
a month left to live. His face was disfigured by open sores;
pneumonia had set in. The Lord spoke to Joan, "This is the one
to receive the cross." Joan was blown away. Here she looked
at this man and saw his disfigured face. But this isn’t how Jesus
saw the man. When Jesus looked at him, he saw him without
spot or blemish, clean and white, like Joan’s cloth cross.
Another outreach participant prayed and saw a vision of a trailer

house, half of which was painted blue. Later, as our group
walked down the street, they spotted the very same half-blue
trailer. Their faith boosted, the group went over to it and
knocked on the door. A man came to the door and looked out
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through the screen. A group member said, “We’re out praying
for people in the neighborhood and felt God guiding us to you.
Is there anything we can pray for you about?”
At this point, the man opened the screen door and began to
share his story. His wife had recently died. “How did you know
I needed prayer?” He asked. Of course, Jesus knew the man’s
need and sent our group as his ambassadors. Our group became
Jesus' hands and feet to this man. They ministered to him and
cried together, mourning the loss of his wife. He experienced
Jesus’ love because group members were willing to take a risk
and trust that God might be directing them in a way that they
couldn’t have anticipated.
As my children participated in this experiment in following the

Lord’s guidance, they grew far more than if I’d tried to teach
them in a classroom.
Learning to minister
According to Jesus, our purpose in life is to love God and love
others (Mark 12:30-31). The Bible teaches that we are
ministers of reconciliation, reconciling man to God, serving as
Christ’s ambassadors (“God… gave us the ministry of
reconciliation…We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as
though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians
5:18, 20). An ambassador is one who acts on behalf of another.
We act on God’s behalf first by understanding his agenda and
mission, and then by seeking further direction concerning the
specifics of a particular task or initiative.
Many Christians do not understand their roles as God’s

ambassadors, what his agenda is, or how to seek him for further
direction. Consequently, they may miss out on the best Spirit-
directed ministry opportunities. In the absence of a clear picture
of God’s agenda, most Christians fall back into the default
mode of “good works.” Skilled ambassadors regularly
communicate with headquarters to better understand what they
should do. They may or may not receive any further
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instructions. If they don’t, they continue in line with their last
communications. If they do, they move forward on those new
orders confidently, knowing that their agenda is clear and
backed by the full authority of those who sent them.
So how do we move from a passive posture to the position of an

ambassador who understands the Lord’s intentions and is
prepared to represent him in order to capture hearts for him?
People need to experiment a bit before they are able to change
their behavior. It takes a while to try out new things and see if
they fit us or not. That’s why participating in a local ministry or
a mission trip is a great place to learn how to begin operating in
this new role as his representative, his ambassador in the world.
When we focus on ministry for an extended time, we set aside
our own agendas so that we can pursue his agenda – the Great
Commission!
When we participate in local ministry or go on a mission trip, it

makes sense that the first step in acting as his ambassador is to
seek the Lord in order to understand his overarching agenda and
what he would have us do in any given day.
This process of asking the Lord for his agenda involves asking
the Lord a question and listening for his response. By
connecting the practice of listening prayer with local ministry or
a mission trip, you give God the opportunity to introduce a
corrective if you’re off base or missing an even better
opportunity. Your prayer is, “Lord, show me how and where
and to whom you want me to minister.” You give God the
opportunity to respond. You debrief this response. You move
out in obedience. Then you evaluate the whole interaction. In
so doing, you recognize where you actually did correctly hear
him. The acronym I use to describe this process is ALOE: Ask,
Listen, Obey, Evaluate.
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A word of caution: If listening prayer is not guided, connected
with specific action, and debriefed, it can degenerate into
flakiness, wherein every stray thought is seen as God’s
prompting.
Apply it
passage:
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves” (Matthew
10:16).
Pray: “Jesus, I thank you that your method has always been to
send your disciples out. And I confess that too often, I get in a
comfort zone. You have called me a sheep and called yourself a
shepherd. You tell us there are enemies. Please show me what
this means for me today. I pray that your truth would find its
way to my heart today.”

1. Is there a practical way that I can practice what I’m
learning in ministry?
2. Is there a particular person or place where you want me

to minister today?
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3. Are you asking me to reach out to others through some
kind of ministry?
4. Where and when should I go?
5. Is there anyone who can help me grow in this area of

ministering? Who?
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Day Seventeen
The role of the Holy Spirit

Real Life Story
I have a friend who once had a client who lived in an unfinished
home: it was a finished walk-out basement which never had
been built upon. When it was first built, the plans called for a
house that had the basement as one of its features. But, for
whatever reason, they had never completed the rest of the
house. What an odd, unnatural situation: The flooring for the
first floor had become the roof! Did these people have a home?
Yes. Was this home all that it could be? No. This family could
have lived in much greater freedom, space, and light; yet they
were content to live in the foundation itself.
Apply it
That's how a lot of believers are: living in the logos foundation
alone, content to live off of the record of God's revelation to
others and their intimate relationships with him. There are two
Greek words for “word” in Scripture. The written word is logos
and the living word is rhema. While we are not to depart from
the truths of that revelation, God continues to reveal how we
apply these truths to our particular lives in the here and now and
to direct us into the future.
As a practical matter we must come to grips with our

understanding of the Holy Spirit as helper and teacher. Jesus
said, "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go
away, the counselor will not come to you" (John 16:7). Do we
really believe that? Do we have a practical confidence in the
power of the Holy Spirit as Christ's presence? Do we see
manifestations of that power regularly in our ministry?
A famous evangelist has been credited with saying, "I suspect

that if the Holy Spirit were removed from the earth, 90% of
ministry would continue just as though nothing had ever
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happened.” Would this be true of our ministry? And if this is
true, then the first place we must begin to remedy the situation
is with clear communication between God and us. Power
cannot be deployed unless God's specific purposes in a given
situation are clear, so that faith and obedience can be exercised.
The Holy Spirit applies God’s written word and gives us

decision-making wisdom – good counsel. That’s why Jesus
refers to him as our counselor. If I don’t ask for his counsel, if I
study God’s written word as a history book and don’t look for
its application to my life, then I miss his interaction with me.
As previously mentioned, this living word – instructions for
how to live my life – has a different Greek source word, rhema.
Those of us who have been raised in the church understand the

doctrine of the Trinity. But if someone who knew nothing
about that doctrine were to go into some of our churches, he or
she might come away thinking that the Trinity is the Father, the
Son, and the Bible. Many of us are taught much more about the
Bible than we are the person of the Holy Spirit.
Think about it. Imagine yourself as a child whose parents have

to leave on a long trip. But before going, they introduce you to
a new governess who will stay with you at all times. This
person, they tell you, will serve as your teacher, counselor, and
comforter. Wouldn’t you want to get to know her? How much
more then, should we be eager to know the third person of the
Trinity?
Some Scripture
Choose and look up some of the following Scriptures, and write
what you learn about the roles and responsibilities of the Holy
Spirit.
John 14:16: The Father will give us a

_____________________________________________
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John 14:17: He is called the Spirit of
______________________________________________
John 14:17: The world does not
______________________________________________
John 14:17: He will be in
______________________________________________
John 16:8-11: He will convict in regard to
______________________________________________
John 16:13: He will guide us into
______________________________________________
John 16:13: He will tell you
______________________________________________
John 16:14: He will bring glory to
______________________________________________
1 Cor. 2:10: He searches
______________________________________________
1 Cor. 2:11: He knows
______________________________________________
1 Cor. 2:12: He helps us understand
______________________________________________
1 Cor. 2:13: He teaches us
______________________________________________
Romans 8:26: He helps us when we are
______________________________________________
Romans 8:26: He intercedes with us with
______________________________________________
Romans 8:27: He searches our
______________________________________________
Eph. 1:17: He is the Spirit of
______________________________________________
Eph. 1:17: He helps us know
______________________________________________
1 John 2:27: His anointing teaches us about
______________________________________________
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passage:
“It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
counselor will not come to you” (John 16:7).
Pray: “Holy Spirit, you are my helper, counselor, and

comforter. Jesus said that it was actually a good thing that he
would go away so that you would come. Why is that so?”

Wait for him to respond.
1. Do I seek your Spirit’s counsel before I make decisions,

or do I make them on my own?
2. How do I control my own life and shut you out?
3. What areas do you want me to yield control to you?
4. Am I failing to trust you in any way?
5. How, specifically, can I grow in this area?
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Day Eighteen
Learning to pray continually

Real Life Story
A couple more of my own journal entries:
8/21/02
Lord, is there anything I’ve done to hurt our
relationship?
Have no other gods before me. No idols. Whatever

consumes your thoughts takes my place.
If I may be so bold, I need for you to speak more clearly.

I’m slowed by my skepticism and hindered by my
rational mind. Help me to love as Jesus loved. Help me
to disciple others.
1 Corinthians 7:29: “The time is short” (don’t be

engrossed by the things of the world).
1 Corinthians 7:35: “Live in a right way in undivided
devotion to the Lord.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------
8/24/02
Show me where I’ve fallen short or quenched your Spirit
lately.
It’s a question of focus. Where do you spend your time?

It shows how important I am to you. To build our
relationship, spend time with me. Make me your first
priority. “Anyone who loves his son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me”( Matthew 10:37).
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The irony is, more than a year has passed since I wrote those
journal entries and I continue to struggle with these issues. Just
because God has spoken to me doesn’t mean that I’ve been
successful in applying what he said. He instructed me about
focus, yet a year later, I struggle with focus.
A conversation with God may start in your journal. But a

journal, while helpful, is only a tool and as such can begin to
feel artificial, a poor substitute for real, verbal give-and-take.
What starts out as a helpful aid to communication can become
rote. For that reason, it’s important that you make an effort to
move beyond the comfort zone of your devotional time and this
devotional – to life, as you walk about the streets and shops in
your own community.
Too often, we stereotype prayer – it’s that time when we close

our eyes, begin with, “Dear God” and close with, “Amen.” The
Bible says that we should “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians
5:17). We do that as we converse with our Lord throughout the
day, telling him our thoughts and struggles, asking him
questions and awaiting his responses. Our lives can be a
continual process of talking with and listening to God.
Although some people seem to hear the Lord’s voice fairly

clearly, everyone struggles initially. God’s voice has a certain
resonance, a pitch and tone that we come to recognize as much
as we recognize anyone’s voice – through experience and over
time. We have to practice tuning in until it begins to come
naturally.
As we go through our day there are things that God wants to

remind us of, direction he wants to give us. Isaiah 30:21 says,
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear
a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’" When
we hear his voice we must go where he leads.
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Apply it
passage:
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all
circumstances…” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Pray: “Lord, how in the world do you expect me to pray

continually? I have a hard time imagining what that might look
like. Where do I even start? Give me something today that will
help me understand how to get my mind around this thing
you’ve told me to do. I want to be in conversation with you, but
I confess that it often feels like a task rather than something that
just flows from me. Show me what a breakthrough would look
like.

Spend some time in prayer. Ask the Lord some questions:
1. Is my life in balance? What needs to change?
2. Is there anything in my schedule that shouldn’t be?
3. With the things that must be done, how can I live in

undivided devotion to you?
4. Ask the Lord to give you the questions to ask him…
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Day Nineteen
Dealing with distraction

Real Life Story
One morning, recognizing that my children are growing up and
leaving the nest, I wrote them a letter:
Dear children,
Some of you have already graduated out of our

home into the big, bad world. I’ll miss the times
we had together in the morning. The Lord used
our commitment to one another to focus us, to
help us seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness.
As you make your way in the world, you’ll find

that you’re bombarded by distractions from a
number of angles. Your good intentions will get
watered down by your commitments. I’m 45
and I haven’t figured it all out. I still find my
priorities getting out of whack. So, I wanted to
share with you a few things I’ve found to be true
that may help you, as Paul said to Timothy,
“finish the race and keep the faith” (2 Timothy
4:7).
To know Jesus, we must learn to listen to his

voice, and to listen, we must focus. Sit in a
crowded room where multiple conversations are
within earshot and you can actually tune first
into one conversation and then another, as you
apply your powers of focusing. It's a remarkable
ability God has given us. We can switch our
attention from one thing to another like we
switch TV channels.
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God doesn't want to compete for our attention.
He'll wait for our pinball brains to stop bouncing
from one thing to the next and settle in on him.
Luke 8:14 highlights worries, riches and

pleasures as being big obstacles to our ability to
focus.
Hey kiddos, remember I’m not intending to

preach here. I’ve just stumbled a few times
along life’s road. I’ve found that God wants to
help pick me up and his presence in my life is
the one thing I most want to pass along to you
all.
Love, Dad
Things that distract us

When Jesus lists the three things that are most likely to rob us
of his communication, we see that the first two, pleasures and
worries, are competitors for our attention. 2 Timothy 2:4 says,
“No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs.”
In other words, God isn't going to wrestle for “mindshare” – we
have to pray about what pleasures or worries may be distracting
us from him.
The devil knows that he has multiple opportunities to interrupt

God's work from the time that we receive the word of God to
the time that we allow it to guide our behavior. A cynical heart
or distracted mind can prevent the word from ever taking root.
When the word of God doesn't take root, convicting us to
change our behavior, the passage of time may be all that is
necessary to weaken our will. When the time to obey comes
and we're faced with the opportunity to obey or not obey, it is
easy to stop short of obedience.
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James 1:22, says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so
deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James goes on to declare
that a follower of Jesus should look intently (focus) on what
God has said, “not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it –
he will be blessed in what he does” (v.25).
Apply it
passage:
“The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good
heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce
a crop…Therefore consider carefully how you listen” (Luke
8:15, 18).
Pray: “Lord, I want good soil! I want to retain the word you
give me, so that it can grow and bear fruit in my life. Show me
what distractions are preventing that. Lord, what do you want
to say to me about my walk with you?”

1. What things am I most focusing on?
2. Are any of these things receiving too much of my

attention?
3. Ask the Lord to give you any questions he wants you to

ask him…
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Today, go somewhere where children are playing or simply
think back to times you have interacted with children. Ask God
to give you the heart of a child as you spend time with him.
Ask God to teach you and speak to you through the children.
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Day Twenty
Growing deep roots

Real Life Story
One day Jesus was telling his disciples what to do when God
has spoken to them. He did this through an allegory of a seed,
its soil, and its roots. “Those on the rock are the ones who
receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no
root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they
fall away.” He went on to describe three things in particular
that keep the word of God from taking root in our lives:
worries, riches, and pleasures (Luke 8:13-14).
Claud Crosby was a normal college student in Richmond,

Virginia. Claud learned the truth of Luke 8:14. The devil tried
to steal the seed of God’s word that had been planted by
attacking him with doubt and worry. Not more than half an
hour after God spoke to him, the devil did as well: “God didn’t
really speak to you back there.” Claud found himself caught up
in a cloud of worry and confusion.
It all started one day when, out of the blue, God spoke to him
and said, “Go to Philadelphia and be discipled.” That word
from the Lord flew in the face of a lot of expectations and life
patterns.
“Out of all the believers I knew,” Claud said, “only one friend
said, ‘you’re in God’s will.’ All the others said, ‘God wouldn’t
have you quit school.’ I told my two closest friends, a couple of
the most passionate believers I know, that I had to follow God
and leave. They said they didn’t believe that I cared about
them. Both have since fallen away from the Lord.”
When God said “Go,” Claud was faced with a number of

decisions. He loved his BMX bike, but knew that it had
become an idol which he needed to lay down.
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Later, another issue, money, was introduced. Well-meaning
family members came to him and said, “Your needs are being
met where you are. How are you going to provide for them in
Philadelphia?”
Two years later, Claud has grown in his faith by leaps and
bounds. He has been discipled in a radical faith and has
ministered to addicts and street people, helping dozens of them
to find their way out of hopelessness. Truly, the word of the
Lord was a precious and fragile thing to Claud. Because he has
been a good steward, God’s relational roots have grown deep
into him.
The discovery that it is possible to converse with God can come

as a gradual dawning or a crashing revelation. Either way, it
can be life-changing. The proof is in the pudding. Your life
will change if you choose to actually hold regular conversations
with God – conversations that cause you to deepen and make
more personal your relationship with him.
Roots
Any relationship needs time to grow roots. In fact, Jesus used
this illustration of roots to describe our response to his
invitation to converse with him. To understand his point, we
need to grapple with what he means when he uses the term
“word.” The most basic unit of meaning in a conversation is a
single word. The word "Go!" has been a life-altering word that
God has uttered to his followers ever since Abraham.
Taken collectively, a piece of conversation, maybe a phrase,

sentence, or even a paragraph, can also be thought of as a
“word.” This terminology can get confusing. Someone may
say they received a “word” from the Lord when in fact, they
actually received several sentences. But that is the broad
meaning that Jesus assigns it in Luke 8:11. In his parable, the
“word,” as represented by a seed, is a message, a God-generated
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bit of communication received by men as thoughts that are then
packaged in words.
Relational roots, like plant roots, grow slowly and

imperceptibly over time. They respond to watering, but it is the
quality of the soil that impacts them most.
The soil represents our attitude. If we want to see our

relationship with the Lord grow, we need an attitude of
eagerness. We need to actively seek to converse with him, or to
just hang out in his presence. This past year, I decided to grow
tomatoes, but I didn't plow the tough, Georgia clay deeply
enough. The tomato plants grew rapidly, and then one day their
leaves began to turn yellow. The soil was too shallow; their
roots couldn't go deeper.
That's how it is with our conversations with God. If our attitude

begins to sag and we don't make time for him, then our
relationship will suffer. If we want to experience the riches of
the deep, personal relationship, we will maintain an attitude of
eagerness to know him and be with him over time. When he
speaks, we will actively listen, applying his word to our lives.
And when we go through dry spells, we won't walk away from
the relationship – every relationship has its dry spells.
Remember, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you
seek me with all your heart.” Only a whole-hearted seeking
will see you through the dry times.
If you have struggled to maintain long-lasting friendships, then

it's likely you'll also struggle with consistency in your
relationship with Christ. Each day that dawns presents a new
opportunity to “seek the Lord, while he may be found.”
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Apply it
passage:
“The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the
ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the
word from their hearts” (Luke 8:11-12a).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, I don’t want to be one of those who

hears the word but forgets and fails to follow through. I want to
be one who is a faithful doer of the word. Show me what needs
to change in my life so that the roots of our relationship can
grow deep.”

1. Are there any past experiences in my life, any hurts in
particular that have led me to believe that it’s not safe to
trust people? What are they?
2. Are there any relationships in my past that have made it

difficult for me to be faithful communicating either with
friends or with you, Lord? If so, would you show them
to me?
3. Would you show me what I need to do to put those

relational difficulties behind me?
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4. What can I do now to move toward a deeper-rooted walk
with you?
What does abundant life look like to you? God has amazing
plans and purposes for his people. Spend some time seeking
God about the abundant life. What does it mean for you today?
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Day Twenty-One
Overcoming obstacles: worries

Real Life Story
Christy McGraw almost didn’t go on my 2003 missions trip to
England. With a week to go before leaving, she wrote to tell me
that she was backing out. I asked her if God had told her not to
go. She said, “My grandmother needs me and I’m worried
about getting the money in.”
I said, “Pray about it over the weekend.”
She did and came back saying, “OK, I guess I’m supposed to
go.”
Amazingly, the rest of the money she needed came in during the
next week. After the trip, she wrote the following:
“God’s love is so important to our life but sometimes we don’t

think we deserve it. God sent me to England to heal my broken
heart and to help me realize I am worthy of his GREAT Love. I
have always felt a sense of worthlessness in my life. I never felt
I was worthy of anything from friends to family and even God’s
love. But all that changed August 2nd.
We as a team were having a time of prayer and of worship and

Mary Lou (a team leader) was going to pray for boldness for
each of us. When she got to me and touched me, I just started to
sob. God had let Mary Lou know some things about me. I had
let Satan enter my mind and tell me how worthless I was and
how I didn’t deserve love. This had been happening a long time.
We prayed against this feeling of worthlessness and as we

prayed I felt something released from around my heart. I felt
free from this burden of worthlessness; Satan no longer had a
hold of my mind. God loves me so very much - more than I
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could ever imagine! God took all those lies and threw them
away and in one touch healed my heart and made it whole!
After this powerful experience with God, I learned even more

about just how loving our Father is and how extraordinary
Christ is. It took me leaving everything I held near to my heart,
my family, friends, and church for God to really show me how
magnificent he really is. I praise him for the opportunity to go
on this trip and I praise him for changing my life!”
Why we worry
Even if over the last several weeks of going through this
devotional, you’ve discovered that God wants to communicate
with you personally and have begun to hear his voice, the devil
is not sweating. He knows how to use our short attention spans
and tendency to worry to rob us of the word of the Lord. To
make conversation with God a lifestyle, we have to do battle
with our enemy and with our own nature.
Perhaps you’re one who struggles with a “Martha” spirit, a

frequent ringing of your hands in worry. You’re conscientious
– concerned about getting stuff done. As a consequence, as the
clock ticks by, you find yourself fretting.
Perhaps you care so deeply that things be done well that

sometimes your concern becomes a worry and crowds out your
compassion for people. How do you find balance?
If we are to grow in our ability to focus our attention on God as

we communicate with him, we have to address the issue of
worry. We worry because we doubt that something we want to
happen, something that we may feel responsible to help make
happen, is actually ever going to come to pass. We may find
ourselves hearing God say something one moment, only to find
worries about a relational conflict or an upcoming test (or
something as abstract and out of our control as the prospects for
world peace) filling our minds and crowding out what God has
said to us.
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Worries introduce the lie that God either doesn’t care or that he
lacks power. They are rooted in the conclusion that we are not
God’s children, adopted into his family, but are in fact more like
orphans with no one to look out for us.
Worries are, by definition, thoughts. As such, they fill the

mind, taking up space, preventing at least for a time, the
possibility of kingdom-thinking. It’s impossible to
simultaneously entertain a worry and to trust God. James 1:8
calls such a person who does this “double-minded.” James
observes that because they lack conviction, they are unstable.
God wants to provide for our needs, but to receive his provision
we have to trust him. Worrying deprives us of that ability to
trust. It calls our adoption into question. Worrying takes the
responsibility for providing for our needs out of our heavenly
Father’s hands, where they belong, and places them in ours.
When we worry, we assume ownership of the problem, figuring
that if it’s going to be resolved, it’s up to us.
There’s a difference between worries and concerns. A concern

stems from taking responsibility for the completion of a task.
It’s normal when one has a responsibility to think about the way
in which it will be accomplished. Just because details pop into
one’s mind doesn’t mean they are from the devil. But when
those concerns are compulsively and repetitively recycled
through one’s brain, they turn into worries – thoughts which
crowd out the word of the Lord through the constant murmur of
unfulfilled details.
It isn’t enough to decide to stop worrying. That only addresses

the symptom of the real root – the thought, “I am an orphan. I
am responsible for my own provision” – which in turn results in
an inability to trust God. Until that lie has been addressed and
exchanged for the truth: “God loves me and has promised to
care for me,” worry is going to be our inevitable companion,
filling our minds when it is most crucial that they be fixed on
the Lord.
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Apply it
So, let me encourage you to meditate on what the Bible says
about worry:
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your
body, what you will wear…who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life?” (Luke 12:22, 25).
“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything…present

your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).
passage:
“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but
as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches
and pleasures, and they do not mature…Therefore consider
carefully how you listen” (Luke 8:14, 18 [emphasis added]).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, it’s natural for people to worry. But I

want to trust you and live by your Spirit. Is this passage true for
me in the area of worry? Have I let anxiety come between you
and me? What do you want to say to me about worry?”

Ask the Lord the questions below. Write down your impression
of what he may be saying in the space allotted.
1. What areas of my life am I most concerned about?
Why?
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2. Do I trust you with all these areas? Which ones do I not
trust you in?
3. What does that reveal about what I believe of your

power?
4. What does it reveal about what I believe of your love for

me?
5. What is the truth about those two things?
6. What should I do next time I start to worry?
Lord, help me to know that I don’t need to worry. Break down

barriers in my life so that I can trust you. Reveal to me those
things I fear that cause me to worry.
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Day Twenty-Two
Overcoming obstacles: riches

Real Life Story
When Peri Forister heard God call her to come work with us at
Adventures In Missions, life began to get complicated for her.
As a single woman, though her budgetary needs were limited,
she still had to raise her financial support.
She wasn’t excited about the prospect of sharing her need with
her family and friends, so she prayed about it. Then it got
worse. God said to give away all the money that she had saved
up in her life.
Forister had worked a variety of jobs to save over $3,000. Her

savings represented a lot of hard work. To think of parting with
it was distressing; but she knew that God had said to do it and
she was determined to obey him. So, one day she got out her
checkbook and pen.
Forister had a list of charities and people who needed help.

Tears spilled down her face as one by one she began to write the
checks. Eventually she had drawn the account down to zero.
She set aside the checkbook, exhausted. While she was glad to
be able to help them, it wasn’t easy to empty her checking
account.
Having given away all her money, Forister was completely

dependent on the Lord, which was exactly what he wanted.
Now the pledges of financial support began to fly at her from all
over! She was overwhelmed by how quickly the support came
in. Within a month, she had all the pledges she needed and was
able to start her missionary work. Just as she had proven herself
trustworthy with the Lord’s word, he had proven himself
trustworthy to her.
127
Maybe in your struggle to grow in your conversational
relationship with God you don’t worry that much. Your enemy
has many other weapons in his arsenal. Weapons like the
temptation to rely on yourself when you have been blessed with
an abundance of resources.
It could even be that you’ve never struggled with money.

Perhaps you've always had a good head on your shoulders about
it. You've understood God's provision and you've tried to be a
good steward of his resources. Most of us in America don’t
need to ask the Lord for our daily bread – it’s just always there.
A mixed blessing
Having money can, in many ways, be a mixed blessing. On the
one hand, it's nice to know that your physical needs are taken
care of. On the other, it takes away the blessing of praying,
“give us this day our daily bread,” and actually watching God
answer the prayer. Dependence on God is a wonderful thing. It
brings you closer to him and enhances your partnership with
him.
God is very interested in being trusted. He bet the farm on the

notion that partnership with men would work. That’s why he
wants us to depend on him. When we do things in his power,
the partnership is working. Therein lies the real problem of
riches; they take away the necessity of trusting God. With
personal needs met, we don’t have to depend on God. We may
talk to him, but it’s easy to say, “You go your way, and I’ll go
mine.”
That’s why the Scriptures are full of warnings against the

dangers of wealth – it whispers the lie, “You really don’t need
God; why bother collaborating with him when you can enjoy
life?”
128
Consider these passages:
“Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the
misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted…Your
gold and silver are corroded” (James 5:1-3).
“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and
into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin
and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).
“No servant can serve two masters...You cannot serve both God
and Money” (Luke 16:13).
“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke
18: 24).
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth

and rust destroy” (Matthew 6:19).
All of these passages point to the concept that it’s not riches
themselves that are the problem; it’s our attitude toward them.
The issue is: can we remain dependent on God and exercise
good stewardship when we have been entrusted with wealth?
Or, will we begin to ignore his costly directives when they
conflict with our own desires?
Apply it
passage:
Pray: “Lord, do you want to talk with me about money? Has

my attitude toward money honored you? What do you want to
teach me about this passage?”
129

1. Am I satisfied with my financial status right now? Do I
truly depend on you?
2. Do I have an attitude of dependence on your provision

for me? Show me my heart.
3. What do you think about my generosity? My spirit of

gratitude?
4. What does my attitude toward my own finances reveal

about what I believe about you?
5. How, specifically, can I grow in this area?
130
Day Twenty-Three
Overcoming obstacles:
pleasures
Real Life Story
It may be an earth-shattering revelation to those who know me,
but I do struggle with sin issues on a regular basis. One
particular area comes to mind where I periodically get out of
balance. All my life I’ve loved sports. Growing up in
Missouri, I used to listen to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball
games on a little red radio with an earpiece during the summer.
I also watched the Missouri Tiger football and basketball games
with my father.
As an adult, I’ve become a Washington Redskins fan. Now

don’t roll your eyes and think, “I can see where this is going –
sports are bad, right?” That’s not my conclusion here. But let
me tell you about the tension in which I live. At best, I skate
close to the edge; everyday of the off-season I check the
Internet to see what moves the Redskins management have
made. I know all the players and their strengths. I keep abreast
of trade talks. At times as I’m dropping off to sleep, thoughts
of how the team is going to do swim through my head. On
game days I’m a little more excited. This past week, the Holy
Spirit told me to rein it in by “fasting” from football for two
weeks.
The problem is that there are times when I want to go pray and
connect with God and those football thoughts get in the way.
At times it obstructs my conversation with God. I must not
allow my interest in football to become an idol; God must come
first. I don’t believe God is a spoilsport who wants to deprive
me of things that add spice to my life; but, I also recognize that
he’s a jealous God and I’m treading on thin ice if I devote more
energy to anything other than him.
131
If you enjoy fun; if you have a wonderful zest for life that leads
you to sometimes obsess over interests or hobbies, then this
may be the thing you’ll struggle with the most as you talk to
God. It’s great that the Lord has built you in such a way that
you’re pulled in the direction of excitement and adventure, but
recognize that it can distract you.
If you have a keen sense of fun, people are probably attracted to

you and you have a lot of good times with your friends. This
motivation you've got is a wonderful gift. The world is too
serious and, goodness knows, we need levity in our lives. At
the same time, you’ve probably seen the potential that exists for
things to get out of balance in your walk with God. The Bible
warns us that pleasures can crowd out the word of God in our
lives.
People who are distracted by thoughts about their favorite sports

team or video game or movie or even by relationships tend to
have this struggle: They sit down to pray, God speaks,
conviction comes, and then competing thoughts come flooding
in. Pleasurable activities are sometimes called “diversions.”
Certainly they can divert us from the path of listening and
obedience.
Pleasures can be a subset of the sin of idolatry. God’s first

commandment is that we make him #1 in our lives. We are to
love him with all our heart, mind and strength. He is so earnest
about this that his second commandment spells out how to
avoid diluting our love for him through idolatry.
The things that could potentially give us pleasure are

innumerable. Look at the number of specialty magazines on the
racks in a bookstore: bodybuilding, sewing, gardening, football,
video games, music, fashion; the list goes on and on. People
can lose themselves in any number of diversions. Often,
because the activity itself brings a sense of pleasure, it's only
natural to want to learn more about it. The more you learn, the
greater your interest. One fact learned leads to another until the
132
area of casual interest turns into a hobby. Ultimately, the hobby
can turn into an obsession and that, in turn, can become an
addiction.
Even at the casual interest stage, it is possible to crowd out

thoughts of God, both while engaged in the actual activity, and
then afterwards, while thinking about it. In and of themselves
these pleasures may not be wrong, but they become harmful to
your soul when the space in your mind that normally would be
filled with God-thoughts is filled by other thoughts.
Of course, this is a gray area. God wants us to enjoy life. He

wants us to delight in his many-splendored creation. But he
also wants to find that place of intimacy in our lives. Like a
spurned spouse, he feels it when our heart beats after other
things more than after him. Pleasures become a problem when
they obstruct our view of God.
Here are a few passages to consider on the subject:
“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money…lovers

of pleasure, rather than lovers of God…Have nothing to do with
them” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
“The widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she
lives” (1 Timothy 5:6).
“He who loves pleasure will become poor” (Proverbs 21:17).
“Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are

blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures…” (2 Peter
2:13).
Apply it
passage:
133
Pray: “Lord, you gain pleasure from my enjoyment of the

things you’ve made, yet you are the only one who can fulfill my
deepest desires. It’s so easy for me to fall into idolatry and seek
other things than you. I need to have balance here, Father.
What do you want to say to me about pleasures?”

1. What are my favorite hobbies and pleasures?
2. Are any of these taking up too much of my time, money,

energy or attention?
3. Are any of them infringing on my key relationships in

my family, at work or with you?
4. What do you want to say to me about this, Lord?
5. What would you have me do?
134
Day Twenty-Four
Persevering through pain

Louise Perrotta’s challenging book, All You Really Need to
Know About Prayer You Can Learn From the Poor, recounts
stories of some who have had to wrestle with the issue of pain.*
Sister Regina is one of them. She’s a nun who cares for the
downcast of Jamaica. When she asks the poor to whom she
ministers, “What do you have to offer the Lord?” she gets a
variety of answers:
“I have eviction.”
Marlene Allen used to offer to the Lord as her daily prayer the
eviction threats she kept receiving for her landlady. Not that
Marlene’s shack was a castle. In fact, it was the second worst
living situation I’ve seen in all these years of going in and out of
poor houses. Rotten wood, rusted zinc, rats everywhere, an
overflowing pit toilet, a cramped room maybe three by five –
these are the conditions in which Marlene was struggling to
raise four children, one of them severely retarded.
“I have a plastic tent.”

Althea Hook and her four children were burned out of their last
house and now live in a make-shift shelter with no more
protection from the elements than four plastic sides and a plastic
roof. “How do you talk to the Lord about this problem,
Althea?” I asked her. Very simply she replied, “I tell him, Lord
help me get a job. Help me earn something for me and my
children. There’s nowhere to live. This plastic tent is terrible
when rain comes; it wets up.” Althea cried here, and I cried
later in my own prayers because she went on to say:
“Sometimes I give up. I tell the Lord, ‘When my children cry
and have nothing to eat… Lord, before you suffer them more,
take them back.’”
135
Jesus wants more than the sporadic communication that is our
habit. He wants more than the monologues we are prone to
pray. He wants us to be careful how we listen. He tells us to
hear the word of God, retain it, and persevere. He said, “But the
seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart,
who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a
crop.”
Insofar as Luke 8:14 points to worries, riches, and pleasures as

among the greatest obstacles to retaining God’s word, it is
through persevering that we bear fruit. The concept of
persevering implies overcoming pain in various forms. As long
as things are going well in your life, listening for God’s voice
may be easy enough. When all other obstacles that the devil
throws your way fail, he resorts to pain. Conversely, if you
have proven yourself trustworthy to God, he may trust you with
pain. How will you do in tough times? This is the age-old bet
that Satan makes with God, the best example of which we see in
the book of Job. It goes like this: “I’ll bet your servant is just
in it for the good times, let’s see how he does with a little pain
in his life.”
Real Life Story

There may be some who at this point would say to me, “Yeah,
that’s easy for you to say, you’ve never gone through what’s
happened to me… you don’t understand my pain.” I have an
answer.
You’re right. It’s true. But while our family is exceedingly

blessed, we have also known pain of our own. In particular, my
youngest daughter has experienced more pain than anyone
should ever have to go through. When she was young, she had
a chronic infection in her ears that was extremely painful,
making it hard for her to hear. In addition to her physical pain,
she struggled just to understand what people were saying.
Then, when she was a little older, we discovered that her palate
wasn’t fully formed. Issues of memory and learning became
136
more apparent. Despite numerous surgeries, she has not been
able to articulate words as most people do. Recently, she’s been
having seizures. She has been labeled by professionals and
isolated from her peers. She has struggled with what it means
to be different. Loneliness is her frequent companion. Every
week my wife takes her an hour away to see specialists. And we
as parents carry the burdens of crushed hopes while trying to
meet all the special needs.
I don’t have any answers for her when I see her heart broken
because other people have friends and she doesn’t. When she
looks at me with eyes that say, “Daddy, it’s not fair,” I don’t
have answers for her. It’s not fair! Why is it that some people
never seem to catch a break? All I know is that it can send them
to Jesus’ feet faster than other people. That’s why he said,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The brokenhearted need Jesus
more than the rest of us.
Because it’s not fair that my daughter - or anyone else - should

be saddled with so much pain, we have a choice. We can either
shake our fists at an all-powerful God who seemingly put us in
this mess, or we can choose to trust and worship him, knowing
that somehow he will redeem it.
As hard as it is to say it, we don’t have any other choice. All of

us who have experienced pain like my daughter would seem to
have a right to be angry at God and to allow that anger to
crystallize into bitterness. But we can’t go there – our Father
God is the author of all life. Somehow in the midst of the pain,
even through tears, we have to look to the “Father of lights”
who, the Bible tells us, gives us good and perfect gifts. We
have to trust him. As we trust him, he does answer us; and if
that answer doesn’t stop our pain, at least it redeems it. Leah
has a strong faith and trusts in God with her whole heart.
All of your life, you’ll have opportunities to have a vindictive

spirit when bad and painful things happen, and turn and blame
God. But if you have a testimony of patience and longsuffering
137
in the face of pain, you will not only dwell in that peace, but
also show people the characteristics of Jesus. The potential
exists for God’s word to dwell richly within you.
Apply it
passage:
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
Pray: “Heavenly Father, this is such a hard passage to read

when I’m hurting. Yet you wrote it to help in our suffering.
Please help me to understand it now, the way you intended, and
to better understand you. What do you want to say to me about
this passage?”

1. Have I expected that you, because of your goodness,
power and love, would keep your children from
significant pain?
2. Do I have any anger towards you or others, Lord, because

of pain?
3. What are some Scriptures you’ve written for us about

pain?
4. So, what is the truth about pain, Lord?
6. What can I do with it? What should be my response to

it?
138
Day Twenty-Five
Helping others to hear God

Real Life Story
After discovering the marvelous secret that God wants to
communicate with me on a regular basis, one of my first
responses was to think, “I’ve got to share this with my
children.”
At that point, they were young – all of them under the age of
nine. In the morning, the four oldest and I knelt in front of the
living room couch.
“If we go to God and ask him questions, I’ve discovered that he

wants to answer us. He loves you and wants to talk to you like
I’m talking to you now.”
“You mean that he’ll talk to us out loud?,” one of them said.
“Well, he might, but he usually talks to us in our minds in a way

that only we can hear.”
“What does that sound like?”
“It sounds like a thought. So pay attention to the thoughts you

have. Some might be God whispering to you.”
So then we all bowed our heads and began to pray. Every now
and then I’d prompt them with another question.
“First, let’s make sure that we haven’t hurt God’s feelings by

doing things we know are wrong. So, pray like this: “God,
would you show me anything I’ve done that I need to confess to
you?”
139
After a time of silence, I asked them, “Did the Lord show you
anything?”
“Yes,” they all replied.
“Well, then go ahead and ask God’s forgiveness for it now.”
“Lord, forgive me for pulling Emily’s hair,” one said.
Another spoke, “God, I’m sorry for having a bad attitude.”
This continued for a while – they were getting it – God was

talking to them! After this, I continued to guide them in
listening prayer, posing questions for them to ask God. It was
wonderful to see their lack of inhibition in communicating with
the Father. We continued to meet together until I became
confident that they were able to practice listening prayer on
their own.
Two thoughts came to me as I reflected on the experience.

First, listening prayer comes naturally for children – perhaps
they have less stuff that gets in the way. And second, I was
surprised by how much unconfessed sin they had. I couldn’t
help thinking, “If they didn’t have this opportunity, then they’d
be dragging all those sins and habits around.”
Apply it
Helping others
People need help in getting to know the Lord personally. While
their lack of experience may protect them from a cynical
attitude, new believers need to be guided along the path toward
a conversational relationship with the Father. Left to their own
devices, my children would not have encountered him. But
with a little help, they readily found their way to his side.
Many Christians would admit that they have never heard God
speak. Yet in our desire to help them, it is possible to
inadvertently cause them to fall victim to a trap. In the great
140
open expanse of our mind, myriad thoughts rush to and fro;
many voices cry out for attention. Remember, most of these
thoughts or voices come from our daily activity—the things we
have seen and heard. In the midst of all this noise, God’s still,
small voice speaks to us. When someone is unpracticed in
listening to him, he or she we will frequently mistake their own
thoughts for his.
It’s helpful to explain to your protégé that God did not make
automatons, people who just do what he tells them to do. He
gave us free will so that we might seek him of our own volition.
Were we robots, he would simply dictate a TO DO list in prayer
to us every morning. The fact is, he doesn’t do this and,
therefore, we should not expect that he will tell us what to do
simply because we asked. While we make clear our availability
and expectancy, we also recognize that he has given us our
general marching orders. Often he chooses to speak to us not
before, but in the midst of the battle.
passage:
“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many
witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to
teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Pray: “Lord, how is this verse true for me? Are there reliable
men whom I can trust? How can I equip them to teach others?
What do you want to say to me about this passage?”

1. Whom do you want me to disciple in hearing your
voice?
141
2. Do I have a track record of failing to look for your
rhema word? How can I grow in this?
3. Am I overly concerned with my own dignity? Is there

anything I need to do to grow in humility?
4. What cautions do I particularly need to observe?
142
Day Twenty-Six
What’s next?
If God has spoken to you during this last month and you’re like
me, you’ll want to find ways to continue listening for his voice
as you go forward from here. How can you do that? Here are a
few ideas:
Fight your enemy

First, recognize the principle of shallow roots in Luke 8. Your
sworn enemy, the devil, loves the tactic of allowing you to taste
the abundant life Jesus promised and then, over time, to call its
validity into question. “Did the Lord really speak to you?” He
asks sarcastically.
That is another reason why journaling is helpful. One way to

fight your enemy is to review what God has said. If the Lord
gave you a promise, then boldly pray it back to him: “Lord, I
thank you that you promised me:___________________. I
claim that promise today in Jesus’ name and ask that you
activate it in my life. I renounce the lies of the enemy and stand
on the truth of your word.”
Continue your discipline

Second, continue in your discipline of setting aside
uninterrupted time to be with God. Remember, he is a jealous
God. He doesn’t want to compete for your attention. When
you meet with the Lord, ask him your own questions and take
the time to patiently wait for his response.
Share it
Third, recognize that one of the best ways to grow is to share
what God has shown you with others. Ask the Lord to show
you who he would like to help you along this path.
143
Practice with others
Listening prayer is not an activity to be practiced exclusively on
your own. When you’re in a team that needs direction from the
Lord, one of the best things you can do is to ask him questions
together. Bring something to write on as you pray and wait on
him.
Keep up the practice of meditating on the Scripture.
Ask the Lord

Remember to keep asking the Lord questions and waiting for
his response. He enjoys conversation with you!
Accountability
If you haven’t done so yet, it’s time to get a partner to look at
the things you hear God saying to you. Find a mature, godly
friend whom you trust and ask them to look over your journal
and give you feedback.
144
R e c o m m e n d e d Re a d i n g
Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby

A very popular workbook that helps you grasp the concept that
“God is at work in the world and we just need to join him in
what he is doing.”
When God Speaks, Henry & Richard Blackaby

A workbook that helps you understand why God wants to
communicate with us and how he does so.
Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Jack Deere

An evangelical’s apologetic for the notion that God’s
miraculous works have not ceased in our day and age.
Surprised by the Voice of God, Jack Deere

Deere goes further down the prophetic road.
Listening Prayer, Leanne Payne

Explains the various ways in which we can listen for God’s
voice and step out in ministry at his behest.
Hearing God, Peter Lord

The original bestseller that demolishes our notions that God is
restricted to speaking through the Bible.
Communion with God, Mark Virkler

A thorough workbook for those who want to continue to
appropriate what the Lord has said about talking to us.
Hearing God, Dallas Willard

The definitive exegesis of the theological concept that the Holy
Spirit speaks to us in multiple ways.
145
The Voice of God, Cindy Jacobs
For those who want to explore the dimensions of the prophetic
gift, this book outlines how it operates and how to grow in it.
Intercession, Joy Dawson

If you feel the Lord calling you to a deeper walk of prayer, this
book will provide helpful direction.
The Hour that Changes the World, Dick Eastman

Outlines a practical system for prayer
Rees Howells, Intercessor, Norman Grubbs

The biography of an intercessor who gradually proved his
faithfulness to the Lord, and then watched as God entrusted him
with a ministry that impacted the world.
146
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Seth Barnes is the founder and director of Adventures In
Missions (AIM) in Gainesville, Georgia. Since 1989, more than
50,000 people have gone on missions projects through AIM.
These missionaries have led many thousands of people around
the world to Christ and have built hundreds of homes and
churches for the poorest of the poor.
AIM’s objective is to raise up a generation of radically

committed disciples of Jesus Christ. Its ministry strongly
emphasizes discipleship and prayer. Those going on projects
are taught how to use listening prayer to seek the Holy Spirit’s
guidance in ministry. They come away changed.
Seth and his wife Karen have five children. They live with their
two youngest children, two dogs, a horse, a cat, and whatever
AIM missionary is visiting and living in their basement at any
given time. Seth and Karen are graduates of Wheaton College.
Prior to beginning AIM, they served as missionaries in both
Indonesia and the Dominican Republic.
Seth went on his first missions project in the summer of his

junior year in high school. That trip to Huehuetenango,
Guatemala, changed his life. He saw poverty and hopelessness
that he’d never imagined before. At the same time, he saw that
he could do something about it. Convicted by God’s heart for
the poor and oppressed in Isaiah 58, Seth determined to commit
his life to helping others understand that they can make a
difference.
“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday...”
Isaiah 58:10
Visit AIM’s web site at www.Adventures.org.

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Praxis Press, Inc.

Published in Gainesville, Georgia, by Praxis Press, Inc.

NASB – New American Standard Bible®. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963,

NKJV – New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,

Editorial assistance provided by www.TheMessageTherapist.com and Serena

Cover design by Eric Retterbush.

Praxis Press, Inc.

You’ve taught me more about listening than anyone else.

1. What is “listening prayer”?

Thanks to Peter Lord. I sat in the audience at a conference of his in 1991

To me, India during the summer of 2001 might as well have

It appeared as though most people were there for exercise, a

I observed Hindu temples spaced along the beach. The devout

The prayer life of many Christians in America is not unlike that

Often, our prayers don’t sound like any other normal

While I had talked to God and heard his voice in a variety of

The next month

Over the next month, you’ll see that it is possible to converse

Like Esau, many of us trade this birthright for a cheap imitation

Some of the questions in this devotional will prompt you to

What you’ll need

So, begin by asking yourself, “Do I want to hear the Lord’s

While I suggest setting aside at least half an hour a day to spend

If at the other extreme, you are already desperate to hear the

Unfortunately, many people don’t have anyone in their lives

What is listening prayer?

A number of hands went up.

“Would any of you volunteer to come up here so that we can

It was a simple, sincere prayer. “Lord, here we are before you.

We waited in silence. We were expectant and curious, but still

Later, Deryck reflected how everything shifted at that moment.

But not everyone was convinced. Ben, another student, said

We continued with a discussion about the many ways God

It was difficult to lead an interactive class on discipleship; it

Skeptics like Ben

But if we’re honest, many of us will admit a couple of things.

And second, this “personal relationship with God” that we as a

The listening prayer process

We will talk more about the journaling process tomorrow. For

This process of listening may feel awkward and, possibly,

Questions to ask the Lord

2. What can I do to keep from offending you in the future?

3. Is there anything you’d like to share with me?

How to begin: your journal

9/27 – Lord, drill down with us. Show us yourself.

Philippians 3:13-14: “Forgetting what is behind and

Wait for what I will show you.

Philippians 2:2: Be “like-minded, having the same love,

10/28 – Thanks for a good weekend. I confess my own

Walk on the paths of righteousness. Minister to others.

A second thing happened – something that happens whenever I

The good news is that he is eager to talk with you. Scripture

Writing down our prayers helps in two ways:

By journaling our prayers and our impressions of God’s

Anyone who believes the Bible is God’s inerrant word will

We’ll make this process concrete when we get to the prayer

Next, wait to see if God brings anything to mind. If he does,

After this, take up your other pen and write a prayer of

This is just a first baby step in developing a conversational

How do we know it’s God?

To get perspective, I suggest you sharpen your skills of

1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Test all things; hold fast what is